Anand to lead World team in Petrosyan match

New Kerala, India
June 9 2004

New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) :

India’s Viswanathan Anand, the World No. 2, will lead the Rest of
the World team in a match to mark the 75th birth anniversary of late
Armenian world chess champion Tigran Petrosian.

Petrosian, who was born in 1929, died in 1984.

The match, against an Armenian team, will be played in Moscow June
10-15.

The special event will be a six-player team tournament where each
player faces all the members of the opposing team.

Anand, who won the Chess Oscar for the third time in 2003, will lead
a team that is expected to include Michael Adams, Peter Svidler,
Loek Van Wely, Etienne Bacrot and Paco Vallejo.

Svidler, a Russian, is known to Indian chess fans as a great follower
of cricket and admires Sachin Tendulkar, whose name he uses to play
chess on the Internet.

Anand has in the past led the World team to an emphatic win over
Russia in Moscow.

The Armenian team includes World No. 1 Garry Kasparov. The other five
are either Armenian or have an Armenian connection.

The three Armenians are Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian and Rafael
Vaganian.

Of the other three, Kasparov’s mother is Armenian. Hungarian Peter
Leko’s wife is Armenian, and her father’s name is Arshak Petrosian,
though no relation of Tigran. Israeli Boris Gelfand was the most famous
pupil of Tigran Petrosian and learnt the game from the master 1980-83.

Anand who has arrived in Moscow, said he was looking forward to
the match.

“It is a very interesting event. I enjoyed the match between Russia
and Rest of the World and I hope this will be a similar pleasant
experience.

“Playing in Moscow is always a treat. I remember playing in the
Kremlin in 2001 and the crowd started clapping when I played Qb3. To
be recognised in the Russian heartland for your chess is a matter of
pride,” Anand added.