World Chess Championship 2013 - Magnus Carlsen blogs about upcoming match

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway was recently in Chennai, India to inspect the arrangements for his World Chess Championship match against Vishwanathan Anand in November (Getty Images)

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has blogged about his recent Chennai visit, where he inspected the arrangements for his upcoming World Chess Championship match against India’s Vishwanathan Anand. Here is the blog entry from Norwegian Carlsen which he had sent from his hotel in Chennai.

“On the way to Chennai we (me and my manager, my father, a chef and a few media representatives from Norway) had a short stop in Doha, Qatar.

The combination of evening darkness and a humid +37 degree Celsius wind was pretty exotic for Norwegians. And it made Chennai at +30 degree Celsius seem rather cool and pleasant upon arrival.

We arrived in the middle of the night and were greeted at the airport by a hospitable and friendly group of representatives from the Indian and state Chess Federations headed by FIDE vice-president president Sundar.

The playing venue and players hotel is the five star Hyatt Regency in the centre of Chennai. We are staying there now, and Sunday we were shown the planned playing venue and the other facilities of the hotel.

The organisers, the hotel staff and everyone involved have been very helpful and shown great hospitality. Monday we visited a girls’ college for a simultaneous display and a press conference. The interest and atmosphere was quite overwhelming. The group of young opponents was surprisingly strong with master players and titled players mainly. Still, the +10-4=6 score was not what I’m used to. India certainly has a bright future as a chess nation?

In the evening the Minister-Counseller of the Norwegian Embassy hosted a friendly reception for the players, their parents and guests of the Embassy, the Norwegian Honorary Consular in Chennai and the Chess Federations. “Tuesday evening I’m heading back to Norway after a successful inspection visit. More than ever, I look forward to the World Championship match against Anand in November.

Before going to Chennai I spent a fortnight on a training camp at the Kragerø Resort on the Norwegian south coast and participated in sponsor events with Arctic Securities and my new main sponsor Nordic Semiconductor! “Early September I’ll leave for St.Louis in the US for the Sinquefield Chess Cup playing against Aronian, Nakamura and Kamsky. Looking forward to a great event!

– Magnus Carlsen, Hyatt Regency, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, August 19, 2013 2013-08-19 22:37:15″

You can read the original blog post by Magnus Carlsen here.