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Viswanathan Anand’s absence means that fans will not get a chance to witness the much-awaited match between the Indian legend and D. Gukesh at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
Chess legend Viswanathan Anand (PTI)
Legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand is understood to have decided to not take part in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. No reason has yet been cited for Anand’s absence. A statement on the Freestyle Chess’ website, regarding the matter, shared that Anand “withdrew on short notice.” Anand, a five-time World Champion, is also a Deputy President in the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the global governing body for chess. The move comes in the wake of a feud between the FIDE and the organisers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian great was recently disqualified from the rapid world championship, held in New York, following an attire dispute. FIDE also recently warned the Freestyle Chess Players Club that they should not refer to the series as a World Championship. World Championships were previously organised by FIDE in 2019 and 2022 while the last year’s event was cancelled.
Viswanathan Anand’s absence also means that fans will not get a chance to witness the much-awaited clash between the Indian legend and newly crowned World Chess Champion D. Gukesh at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. Anand and other big names like Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and many more were scheduled to participate in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
19-year-old Uzbek prodigy Javokhir Sindarov, who had emerged as the runner-up in the online qualifier, will replace Viswanathan Anand in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. Sindarov will feature in the inaugural leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam scheduled to start on February 7 in Germany. The next legs of The Freestyle Chess World Championship will be held in Paris, New York, Delhi and Cape Town.
The statement shared by the Freestyle Chess’ website claimed that Javokhir Sindarov got to know about the development during a family vacation in Dubai. “On Friday morning, I received a WhatsApp message confirming that I would be playing. Everyone was thrilled,” he was quoted as saying by the Freestyle Chess’ website.
Javokhir Sindarov emerged as one of just six players in the history of chess to become a grandmaster before his 13th birthday. He had earned a prestigious gold medal with the Uzbek team at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. At the end of 2023, Sindarov breached the 2700 Elo mark for the very first time.