Regretting that "politics has taken over chess", Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand saiddue to the fighting between the two World chess associations -- FIDE and the rival body floated byGary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik -- "the game is really suffering with the lack of clarity at thetop."
"The situation is a complete mess. The chess world can't go on like this. We all hope that by next year there will besome de facto unification if not a de jure one," Anand said.
"Hopefully some time next year some thing will come up and we are all waiting for the unified World Championship,"said Anand.
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"Because of the prevailing world economic condition it is tough to get sponsors and still people are trying to holdthree World Championship matches. The last three years was a circus. And the end result is that you don't have a singlemarketable person," Anand said referring to the recent scrapping of the unification match betweenKramnik and Hungary's Peter Leko by the London-based Einstein Group.
The group announced last month that it was unable to raise the estimated $1 million-plus prize fund from sponsorsfor the Kramnik-Leko match planned for this summer.
The winner of the Kramnik-Leko match was to play the winner of the match between former world championKasparov and Ukraine's Ruslan Ponomariov, who holds the International Chess Federation (FIDE) crown, in an effort toend a division going back to 1993.
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The unification match, supposed to be held by the end of this year, was to be followed by a revived cycle ofcandidates' matches and an end to all the confusion the game has suffered for the last ten years.
The unification process started after the signing of a deal in Prague between FIDE, Kasparov and Kramnik on May 6. Asper the deal, Kramnik and Kasparov were to revoke all claims to any alternative world champion title and FIDEwas to issue alicense to a new body to manage professional chess as a
profitable business.
"We have to resolve (the matter) internally," Anand said about the impasse.
India's No.1 Chess player said he will be representing India in the next Asian Games in Doha.
"If chess is successful at the Games it will bolster our case to get into the Olympics," he said.
Anand said Indian youngsters hadbecome very competitive.
"Now there are two good players in every state but we have to push it up to atleast 10,"he said.
On doping he said there was no need for testing because there was no place for performance enhancing drugs inthe sport.
"It is a pity that dope testing is being introduced in chess. There is no doping in chess. I do not see any need forit. In chess you would not see any player complaining about the other's performance," he said.
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"There is no need to introduce dope testing just to make chess an Olympic sport," Anand said reacting to FIDE's move toadopt dope testing measures.
"I am happy that all the private tournaments have said no to it.... To test for steroids and to test for the presence ofminute quantities of caffeine."
Looking at his schedule for the rest of the year, Anand said "End of July I will be playing in the Dortmund Chesstournament (classical chess) and then will defend my crown at the Mainz RapidChess.
"In October I will play in France. I will be training for of July," said the formerworld champion whose next target is to cross the magical Elo mark of 2800, a barrier broken only twice in history by Kasparov andKramnik.
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"I still have a lot to learn," said the 32-year-old who has 2775 points according to the latest world ranking.
Anand said it would be nearly impossible to scale the peak this year. "This year I am playing in only one moreclassical tournament (Dortmund) and to get 25 points from one championship is very difficult."
"I hope to cross the mark some time next year."
Anand said he will pick and choose tournaments to avoid burn-out.
"It is very difficult (to stay at the top) with so many tournaments. I will try and make sure not to play too many," he said.
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On his fitness, he said "I work out two hours in the gymnasium every day and also take time away from chess in order not to get sick of it.Kramnik and I don't prepare for 10 hours a day but we try to make optimum use of thetime."
PTI
