Anand may return

Viswanathan Anand may soon shift base back to India. The world chess champion has bought a house in Chennai and will spend more time in India now on, report B Shrikant.

Viswanathan Anand may soon shift base back to India. The world chess champion, who has been staying in Spain for over a decade as it facilitated his travel across Europe for tournaments, has bought a house in Chennai and will spend more time in India now on.

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Anand, who could shift to India as early as next January, said he would also train with Indian players, which could prove to be a great opportunity for them. "I have bought a new house in Chennai and will be staying more in India," Anand said. "Earlier, I used to stay for about two months in India and six-eight months in Spain. But now it could be the other way round."

Anand's parents have a house at Besant Nagar in Chennai and he usually spends a couple of months every year with them, towards the end of the chess season.

Though the reigning world champion and world No. 1 has no plans to move bag and baggage to India entirely and will continue to spend time in Spain, he will train more in India with local players, as he did before the Mexico World Championship in September. He owns a bungalow at Collado Mediano, near Madrid. Anand said he would put the plan into action with the Corus Chess Championship, to be held in the Netherlands on January 11-27 next year.

Anand said he was looking forward to the Corus Championship as it has a strong field, with most of the world's top players in action.