Click to play videoNew Delhi: Vishwanathan Anand is the first and the only Indian to have won the World Chess Championship.
He is not only a former world champion and the number two chess player in the world, but has been the face of India for the many years in global chess.
But despite all his success, including his recent exploits in the Moscow Blitz tournament, is his game slowing down?
Inspite his recent win in the Mikhail Taj Blitz tournament, a former world number three chess player has raised concerns over Anand's slowing game and his fitness.
Atleast that's what Nigel Short, unarguably the best british chess player ever thinks. Nigel met Anand in the Corus Championship in 2005, and has known Anand for more than a decade now.
"He's one of the most unathletic people I have come across. You need energy, and you need stamina if you're playing matches, and you can get away with it when you're 20 or 25, it's not a big deal. But when you're approaching 40, then these things start to take their toll," Short says.
Short claims Anand's not being athletic is not the only cause of concern for Indian chess, but he believes there some very important lessons that young Indian grandmaster Parimarjan Negi also needs to remember if he has to be successful.
"He shows too much deference to well-established players, famous players. So, you have to be disrespectful," Short adds.
Short is hopeful that Negi, with the kind of talent he has shown so far in becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world, will go a long way, and might end up achieving things at an even faster rate than Vishwanathan Anand.
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