Anand's five-time World Chess Champion record speaks for itself: Garry Kasparov

Here are excerpts from a Wall Street Journal short interview with legendary Grandmaster Garry Kasparov:

WSJ: What do you think about the World Chess Championship? Is it the most anticipated since the Fischer Spassky game in 1972?

Gary Kasparov : This is a great match and as you mentioned one of the most anticipated games in the Google-Facebook era. My match with Karpov was also one of the great ones since the Fischer match. This match could be the turning point for the game and bring it back into the spotlight. Magnus is a great talent and I hope he wins since I have trained him some years ago. However, Vishy is too experienced and motivated for this match, so it is going to be a challenge.

WSJ: What are your views on rise of chess in India especially in the city of Chennai?

Kasparov: I don’t have much experience in India and this is probably my third visit to the country. Chennai is my first chess experience in India and I am not surprised at the growth of chess here. Having a role model like Anand who is the World Champion is bound to get people more interested in the game. Besides that, from social media, I see that there is decent infrastructure to support the growth.

WSJ: What do you think about how the World Championship has been organized this time?

Kasparov: It seems to be more than decent and I hope to see more of it today. I hope these standards are replicated in future World Championships so as to have great events in the future.

WSJ: You have been an advocate of democracy in Russia. How do you feel being in the world’s largest democracy?

Kasparov: I do understand the diversity of issues in such a large democracy such as India. Considering the diverse challenges the country has faced, the country has been doing great in its progress. I hope that Indian democracy and India move forward in the years to come.

WSJ: You also have plans to run for FIDE president next year. How do you see India and Indian chess fitting into your campaign?

Kasparov: I am concentrating on my campaign and I hope by the end of next summer I become the FIDE president. I will be obligated to visit India much more since I see India as an integral part of my plans to promote chess globally. My goal is to make chess mainstream and make it part of education. The idea is to create a nexus between education, technology, social media and chess so as to promote chess globally, this would be my idea to transform FIDE.

WSJ: Lastly, do you think Anand is one of the legends of the game?

Kasparov: He has been a five-time World Champion and that record speaks for itself. I don’t need to speak anything about it, the records do.