Happy that so many people have discovered chess during pandemic: Anand

TIL Desk Sports/ Chess has attracted many first-timers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive reach of the internet has made it a “truly global sport”, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand said to mark the first ever World Chess Day.

“Thanks to the internet, (chess) has become a truly global sport. I believe that it is never more widely disseminated as it is now,” Anand said in a virtual commemoration of the World Chess Day at the UN on Monday.

“And of course, during the pandemic, I’m very happy that so many people have discovered the game of chess. Perhaps they didn’t have the time or they never got around to it. But this has been a very good chance for chess to spread,” he said.