KOLKATA: Like most others, American Grandmaster Wesley So too is impressed with the young crop of Indian chess players and believes they can make it big very soon.
"They all are very promising and have great potential," So, in the city to take part in the Tata Steel Chess India, told TOI on Saturday. The current World No. 8 is optimistic of seeing players like D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin continue to rise in the rankings list and even hoped "to see Arjun and Gukesh in the top 10 in three years' time." While Arjun is World No. 28 with 2718 ratings, Gukesh is No. 23 with 2725 ratings.
However, he was not sure whether India will get a player in the World Championship cycle in the years to come. In spite of doing well at various international meets, no Indian player has been able to make the Candidates so far after India's first Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. "Well it's tough to make it (Candidates) and a lot of factors go behind it. But I feel if these Indian youngsters can maintain this level of consistency and focus on the right tournaments and peak at the right time, there's no reason why anyone from them cannot make it," he felt.
World champion Magnus Carlsen deciding not to defend his title against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the World Championship match next year did surprise So, but the Filipino-born three-time US champion was also okay with it. "I feel we should respect Magnus' decision. See he has to go through a lengthy preparation process to get ready for the championship match which even forces him to miss many tournaments. But if at the end of it all, he doesn't enjoy it, there's no point playing it also," So stated.
The winner of the inaugural Fischer Random world championship, however, doesn't feel the absence of Carlsen will take the shine out of the championship match. "Rather it may encourage other players like me to take a plunge," So, who took part in the 2018 Candidates meet, said in jest.
The 29-year-old is happy to see Anand in the World chess body after the former World champion was elected its deputy president in August. "It's so nice to see Anand in Fide. I feel he is the right person as he is capable of bringing so many things on the table," he hoped.
So looks ahead to finish the year on a high here after being part of a USA side which did poorly at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai in August. "Some of our players were not in the best of form and we missed (Hikaru) Nakamura. Levon (Aronian) falling ill and missing the last two rounds also harmed our cause," he stated. At the same time he praised the other sides too. "I must also confess that India and Uzbekistan played really well," he pointed out.
