Anand plays chess ambassador in Bulgaria

Fresh from his victory at the Corus Chess Tournament, India´s chess ace and World No. 2, will visit Sofia, Bulgaria to promote chess.The Eastern European capital is a chess lover´s paradise with a huge number of aficionados.

Anand will arrive in Sofia on 29th January. He will be met at the airport by the Sponsors of the event, Mobitel, Bulgaria´s leading GSM company and officials from the Indian Embassy. The visit will act as a canvas to bring chess into Bulgarian drawing rooms. Anand will be in Sofia from the 29th of January till the 2nd of February.

A host of activities have been planned during his stay. On 30th January,The Indian chess maestro will appear on the Famous Bulgarian TV show, The Slavi Show. The Show which tops TRP´s in Bulgaria is a Jay Leno type Bulgarian cultural phenomenon. Previous guests in the show have been World greats like Gorbachev , Franz Beckenbauer, Jane Claude Van Dam etc. The guests represent a cross section of World achievers and celebrities. Anand is the first Indian to appear on the show . Keeping this is mind, Anand will appear on the show in an Indian attire. The show will in a lighter vein talk about Anand , The Indian Chess genius.In keeping with the tradition of the show , each guest will present the Host a present very typical of his or her native country. The gift will used in an auction and the proceeds will go towards a noble cause.For this occasion , Anand has chosen a Tanjavur painting. The painting showcases the rich heritage of India. The grand mix of colours represents the confluences of colours and cultures in our country.

The show has a web site where more details are available. The link is http://www.slavishow.com/index.php/common/welcome.php;lang;en-uk. If that doesn´t work try www.slavishow.com and click for the English section.

On 30th January , there will be a press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia. Representatives of all the major media will attend. The Bulgarian newspaper Trud has already run a curtain raiser on Anand´s visit that has aroused interest in the Bulgarian media.

Anand to take on Topalov

On 31st January, Viswanathan Anand and Bulgarian Chess Star , Vesselin Topalov will give a simultaneous chess display . The participants will be twenty young children. Bulgaria has a very robust chess culture, so many promising young players will pit their moves against the Grandmasters.

The Grand finale of the visit is the mini-Blitz/Rapid match between Anand and Topalov. Two games of ten minute duration will be played. If the encounter is drawn , a tie break match will be played. The rule for the tie-break is that if Black draws , he will be adjudged the winner.

The last time the two players faced each other in a similar time limit was in Corsica for the final of the Corsica Masters 2003. Anand won the encounter in the blitz play off.

Anand and Topalov have very interesting styles and have a high record of decisive games against each other. The Indian has a plus four advantage against the Bulgarian. The event is a made for Television spectacle. It will be transmitted live on Bulgaria´s prime Television channel. The games will start at 16.30 Local Bulgarian Time . Bulgaria is three and a half hours behind India. More details on the event, head to head encounters and similar statistics are available in the English section of the web site http://www.mobiltel.bg/

First visit to Bulgaria

Anand is a global citizen . His chess has taken him to far flung places like Mayan Mexico, Lunar Iceland, Sydney Down Under , glamorous Monaco, etc. In all he has been to approximately 37 countries, Bulgaria is the 38th country on his list. "I have read a bit about Bulgaria . I am quite excited to a see a new country and at least see some of the star attractions." says the tourist in Anand. The most striking thing about Bulgaria ? " I happened to read they shake their heads like Indians, this is something Aruna and me truly want to see!"said Anand

" I am happy to go to Bulgaria , a country which has an intrinsic chess culture. I am overwhelmed with the interest the visit has created. Bulgaria is surely growing as a chess nation. In the end I have to play Vesselin , this means I can´t be a complete tourist!"said Anand, before boarding his flight to Sofia.