Anand ready for title defence

Viswanathan Anand, the NIIT Brand Ambassador is all primed up for Grenke Leasing Championships at the Chess Classic of Mainz, where the Indian superstar is pitted against Alexander Grischuk of Russia.

Anand going for his fifth straight triumph at Mainz has beaten a plethora of stars in the past and his victims include Vladimir Kramnik (2001), Ruslan Ponomariov (2002), Judit Polgar (2003) and Alexey Shirov (2004).

"Mainz is such a lovely place and one of my favourite venues," said Anand on the eve of his title defence. "I have good times here and some excellent chess, too."

In the past, Anand and Grischuk have drawn four times and Anand won once at the Corsica Open in 2003. Two of their draws came at Wijk Aan Zee, including earlier this year, when they drew in a quick 22-move game from a Spanish Opening.

Anand is wary of Grischuk's talent. The Russian made a name for himself by reaching the semis in the World Championships in Delhi in 2000.

Also Read Indians disappoint in Czech chess Sahaj Grover wins world under-10 chess title Anand to help raise funds for NGO I also strive to have chess-free days: Viswanathan Anand I will strive to win World Championship: Anand

"He is a very tough player and very dangerous in rapid chess. His play in Dubai in 2002 where he played brilliantly and could have eliminated the tournament winner Peter Leko. He won two Ordix Open in Mainz in 2003 and 2004 without dropping  game.

This makes him a very fierce rival. Many Russians tell me he is a very good rapid chess player. This being a short match of 8 games we can expect tense and challenging games," said Anand.

Anand is also due to play the eight-man World Championships in San Luis, Argentina later in September.