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Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. File
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He has participated in the prestigious Norway Chess Tournament\u2019s eight of 12 editions so far. While Viswanathan Anand is set to return to Norway next month as a commentator, his most favourite memory of an event that is being billed as the Champions League of the chess world is not with black or white pieces on the board. In fact, it came on a rest day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have to be the time I won. the cooking… the chef\u2019s competition. I was the most surprised of all, but my wife might top me. These rest day activities are often lots and lots of fun, so that\u2019s a good memory,\u201d Anand said via videoconferencing during an event that saw the Norway Chess organisers interact with the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai members.<\/p>\n

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What did Anand cook, though? The legendary chess player remembered every bit of his just like any of his famous faceoffs against his arch-rivals. \u201cWe were given some ingredients. It was Halibut sauce, plus Halibut plus Hollandaise sauce, which we had to make and we were supposed to cut some greens as well to go along with it,\u201d Anand recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team member was Ding, who had injured himself in a cycling accident, so he was only able to cut vegetables. And he just cut them so finely, because there\u2019s nothing else he could contribute for one hour or a bit more, so he was just very methodical. I thought when I put the dish into the oven and I forgot to turn it on and I realized I forgotten to turn it on, I thought I must have messed up any chances I had. But luckily it was only a few minutes and then it turned out a bit okay. But my Hollandaise sauce was the winning ingredient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read | Viswanathan Anand: World title is just reward for Gukesh\u2019s perseverance<\/a><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

While Anand used to be the lone flagbearer of India\u2019s challenge during the tournament\u2019s early years, Norway Chess has witnessed increasing Indian participation. While three of the 12 participants last year were Indians, this year will witness D. Gukesh, Arjun Eragaisi, Koneru Humpy and R. Vaishali taking on the best of the best chess players in the world for a whopping prize money.<\/p>\n

Anand was confident that Gukesh will be ready to a repeat of the World Championship title match against Magnus Carlsen\u2019s on the latter\u2019s home turf. \u201cI expect a very exciting battle. Gukesh will not lack motivation or the determination to go after Magnus. But Magnus is also highly motivated by the challenge of playing against our young players,\u201d Anand said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen him in multiple tournaments whether it\u2019s Kolkata or the World Rapid Blitz, he eagerly looks forward to these match-ups and so we have the perfect storm. I think we have the right to expect some great battles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norway Chess will host its 13th edition from May 26 to June 6. Having emerged as one of the most sought-after events in the chess calendar by the Grandmasters and enthusiasts alike, Norway Chess has introduced multiple engaging innovations that offers a sneak peek into a player\u2019s match-day proceedings during a match.<\/p>\n

Kjell Madland, the Managing Director and the brain behind Norway Chess, hoped that the event will not only generate partnership from the Indian chess ecosystem but could well expand into hosting a leg of the event in India soon.<\/p>\n

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Published – April 10, 2025 09:14 pm IST<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. File | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B He has participated in the prestigious Norway Chess Tournament\u2019s eight of 12 editions so far. While Viswanathan Anand is set to return to Norway next month as a commentator, his most favourite memory of an event that is being billed as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[193674,50437,23624,193673],"class_list":{"0":"post-239553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-anand-won-a-chefs-competition-during-norway-chess-tournament","9":"tag-norway-chess-tournament","10":"tag-viswanathan-anand","11":"tag-viswanathan-anand-on-winning-chef-competiton"},"yoast_head":"\n