Kolkata: Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo was in the air when his name was called during the draw for the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament 2021 on Tuesday at Taj Bengal. The tournament will take place in National Library, Kolkata from November 17-21.
While Sam Shankland, the 2018 USA champion, had also gone to the Indian embassy in San Francisco with his baggage in the hopes of getting his passport before flying out.”If you had told me on Thursday night that I would be here today, I would have said, that is optimistic,” said the 29-year-old GM.
On the other hand, Adhiban Baskaran just tied his vows on Monday and geared up for the tournament. On account of it, five time world champion Viswanathan Anand stated,” well for me, special is Adhiban of course because he comes here as a newly wed, I mean newly, he was married yesterday and literally came over so exactly the situation I was in Dortmund many many years back, I had my wedding, landed there and played. I was successful and he will be.”
This tournament sees the return of top-level over-the-board chess to India. Though there has been a lot of chess activity in the country and throughout the world since the coronavirus brought the world to a standstill, it has all happened online. As a result, the reintroduction of the mind game to the physical world means a great deal to Indian chess and its rising players.
