Viswanathan Anand to get into administration?

New Delhi, April 1

India’s first chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand may get into administration. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich spilled the beans on his plans while also announcing that he will seek re-election to the post. The FIDE Congress convenes in Chennai, which is also the venue for the FIDE Chess Olympiad, in four months.

Dvorkovich, who resigned from the Russian cabinet after opposing the war in Ukraine, said that if he if he wins another term, Anand will play an important role.

“Our team will be strengthened by the participation of Viswanathan Anand. Anand will be a huge part of our team, if we win,” Dvorkovich said.

Anand confirmed that he was willing to work alongside Dvorkovich and his team. “For the moment we have not decided exactly what shape this will take but the great work Dvorkovich and his team have accomplished, I am willing to work alongside them,” Anand said.

$10 million guarantee

Top officials of FIDE and the All-India Chess Federation were in New Delhi to sign on the agreement confirming Chennai as the host of the Olympiad.

The Olympiad was first allocated to Belarus and then to Russia, but had to be shifted amidst international sanctions due to the war.

“We didn’t have time to run a proper bidding campaign this time after we had to take back the event from Russia,” Dvorkovich said. “We asked for informal bids with simple guarantees. AICF was the first to approach us .There were a few other bidders as well but we did not receive anything comparable to the bid made by India,” he added.

AICF president Sanjay Kapoor said that India gave a guarantee of $10 million to win the bid. “We provided the guarantee to organise the event within 48 hours,” Kapoor said. “Apart from a guarantee of $10 million, we booked accommodation for 3,000 people in only 48 hours,” he added.