Indian chess legend Anand becomes FIDE deputy president

Chennai: Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand was on Sunday elected deputy president of FIDE, the sport’s world governing body, while incumbent president Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected for a second term.

Five-time world champion Anand was part of Dvorkovich’s team.

Dvorkovich received 157 votes as against 16 by his rival Andrii Baryshpolets while the number of invalid votes was 1 and abstentions stood at 5.

The elections to the world chess body were held during the FIDE Congress which is being conducted here alongside the 44th Chess Olympiad.

After an illustrious career during which he won numerous titles and honors, the Chennai-based Anand has in recent times cut down on his tournament play and focussed on coaching.

He shot to prominence as a teenager and became India’s first ever Grandmaster after winning the world junior title and have since led the country at the global level in chess. He also won five world titles with the last being the world rapid title in 2017.

He is not part of the playing team for the Olympiad but is mentoring the Indian squads.

He has also expressed his desire to do something for the sport in a capacity as an administrator and has backed the work done by Dvorkovich and his team in the first term.

Ahead of the elections, Dvorkovich had spoken about having Anand on his team.

”I am really proud to have Anand running for deputy president. He is a great person and a great personality. He has been a long-time friend. ”Already, he is extremely popular all around the world. Not just in this state, but wherever I go, his personality and contribution are acknowledged and recognized as a big part of FIDE history and FIDE future. We have a really good team.”