Chess king Viswanathan Anand to be Adda guest on Thursday

This May, Viswanathan Anand extended his five-year reign as the undisputed World Chess Champion after defeating Israel's Boris Gelfand in a hard fought contest.

Having won his fifth world title and the coveted Chess Oscar six times, he has arguably better championed the cause of the sport in India than anybody else — as of this month, India has four players in the top 100 in chess. Recently, Anand also offered his services to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala in their efforts to promote chess at the school level.

On Thursday, a select audience in the Capital will get an opportunity to interact with Anand at the latest edition of Express Adda, involving conversations with people at the epicentre of change. Previous guests have included Sheila Dikshit, Omar Abdullah, Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria.

He will be in conversation with Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta.

A recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the first sportsperson to receive the Padma Vibhushan, Anand will be talking about the challenges that lie ahead of him and the future of the sport in the country, as well as fatherhood and how it has changed his outlook on chess, on splitting time between India and his second home in Spain, and on his interests outside the 64 squares.

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