Not so long ago, Anish Giri was tipped for bigger things in chess. From the moment the Dutch grandmaster broke into the top bracket, he has become an enigma in many ways. While a young Indian brigade has hogged the limelight, Anish’s career has taken many twists and turns. A 2800-Elo rated player, he has made it to the Candidates Tournament twice. It’s been a choppy ride for him recently, his rating stands at 2748 and he is ranked 10th in the world.
His is not a story of a career being in a free-fall. Every now and then, he turns up at tournaments as a rank outsider and goes on to win it. During the 2023 edition of Wijk Aan Zee, he famously defeated Magnus Carlsen on the way to the title. A player, whose strength was undoubtedly the Classical format, his tournament appearances have been far and few. While his career has moved on ‘from one to watch out for’ to ‘what could have been’, Anish admits he still has high ambitions.
The upcoming FIDE World Cup, to be hosted by India later this year, for now is top of that list.
It is with the eye on that tournament that Anish chose to participate in the Chennai Grand Masters event. Post this event, he will head to Uzbekistan to feature in the Grand Swiss event. “Going into the year, I was mostly focusing on the World Championship cycle. I’m scheduled to play a few events to help myself get into shape and Sharjah (where he won) was one such event. I didn’t expect that I would do so well there. I am happy with my form. Apart from having ambitions for the Classical World cycle, I am also very much looking forward to the World Rapid and Blitz at the end of the year,” Anish said on the sidelines of the Chennai event, where he has drawn all his seven matches so far including the one against Arjun Erigaisi on Wednesday.
The results so far have been in line with his nickname ‘Drawnish’, one that Anish has earned off-late when it comes to big tournaments where he predominantly plays to avoid a loss with a safety-first approach.
The 31-year-old said his preparation these days is very different from what he did in his initial years.
“A lot has changed because chess is a very dynamic game because of the developments of computers. It’s been changing throughout history but what previously took 10 years, now it changes in one year. I can no longer recognise the game that I play now. It’s nothing to do with the game I played 10 years ago. The way we prepared was different, the approach was different. So, it’s very hard to compare myself from then to now. I was basically playing a different kind of game. But I am at least satisfied that I have been able to somewhat adapt and still show good results relatively quickly. I have definitely suffered from this change at some point. I hope to catch up,” Anish said.
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The need to juggle between the formats has also not helped Anish when it comes to maintaining his form. So he identified what format isn’t going to work for him. “I try to be a step ahead, but I’m always a step behind, I feel. It’s a big challenge for me and this is one reason why I have decided to completely exclude freestyle chess. It’s not even normal chess, it’s even a different game. I think what I noticed with experience is that usually when you have a lot of challenges, you have to first decide what you are not going to do. I think it’s very important, because if you exclude certain things, then you are able to focus on the others. Because just chasing everything all at once is a mission impossible,” Anish says.
The current generation of players, altering between formats is all the more organic as they are used to playing in all, which wasn’t the case when he started.
“It’s very different for young players because they just see the game as it is now… they don’t need the adjustment thing because this is chess for them. When I tell them what it was like 10 years ago, they look at me like I am some kind of grandpa. But I think I have a lot of experience and I feel it’s helpful. And I am still quite motivated, unlike some of my colleagues like (Magnus) Carlsen, for example. He’s won everything, I don’t have this problem. So motivation is still very much there. I am eager to do well. I would have gladly retired, it would have been great. I would go to the beach and relax… I have some money. I will be happy but I think it would be a crime against my career to do it right now. I think I have everything it takes. If I get some wind in my back and I get lucky here and there, I can achieve the highest goals,” Anish signs-off.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
