Anand answers Kasparov

Vishy Anand has chosen the seconds for the match with Topalov

A few months ago Garry Kasparov made a comment that Anand's reign is going to end soon due to the fact he is approaching 40 years. During a promotional event in India, Anand was reminded of this, and he gave a clear answer in front of the journalists, "I find it strange that in October (2008), when I was 38, Kasparov said I had a great future. In December, after turning 39, I was too old to continue for long."

During the press conference, Anand revealed some secrets from the past rapid match against Leko, where he chose to play the Grunfeld Defence after a gap of nine years. "In many ways, it was a continuation of Bonn. Since Leko was Kramnik’s ‘second’ in Bonn, I was aware he could use some of those unused preparations. Funnily, both wanted to surprise the other in the opening and ended up preparing the same lines (of Grunfeld Defence). I was the first to recover from this fact after refuting his ideas in the first game and won a nice (second) game. He had a chance in the fourth game but missed it," said Anand.

Speaking on the World championship match next year against former champion Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov, Anand said, he had already shortlisted players to form his team of ‘seconds’. Immediatelly he was asked about GM Ganguly, but Anand did not want to reveal more information. He went on, "Topalov is incredibly strong. He has plenty of match experience that makes him a formidable match-player. He is very well prepared and has the ability to completely shut out setbacks and come back strongly."

Information: The Hindu, Sify, Times of India