Viswanathan Anand was stretched a bit. So was Koneru Humpy.
And they had to be in front of their computers for well over a couple of hours, dividing their attention to some 20 games. It proved time well spent though, as the COVID-19 fund-raiser by India’s top chess players proved a resounding success.
More than ₹37 lakh ($50,555) was collected by the simultaneous online games featuring five of India’s brightest minds on Thursday night. D. Harika, Nihal Sarin and R. Praggnanandhaa were the others.
Anand played 25 games — he won 22 and drew three — while the rest played 20 each. Humpy and Harika won 17 of their games and drew the rest, while Praggnanandhaa won all his 20. Nihal also seemed on course for a 100% record, but had to settle for a draw in his last game.
Huge response
The event was organised by chess.com , which was pleasantly surprised by the magnitude of its success. “Our target was $15,000 but people from around the world contributed generously, besides the entry fee (one had to pay $150 to take on Anand and $25 to play the other Grandmasters),” chess.com India director Rakesh Kulkarni, told The Hindu . “The response was truly overwhelming.”
The money would go to Redcross India and the All India Chess Federation’s Checkmate Covid initiative, which will lend a helping hand to chess players affected by the pandemic.
“I was delighted to find that such a big amount was raised by our games,” said Humpy.
“And it wasn’t easy for me, as I came across some really good players. At least two of my games were pretty tough; and I found Anand too faced some strong opposition.”
Anand and Humpy were also part of chess.com ’s COVID fund-raiser a year ago. The amount collected then was ₹4.5 lakh.
The nine-fold increase reflects not just the graver situation India is finding itself in now, but the massive increase in popularity that chess has seen during the pandemic.