Anand for introduction of four-hour game

World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand on Monday said the new four-hour format devised by the FIDE is "very fair", but it should be introduced on an experimental basis.

"I am perfectly happy with the new system. It is very fair. But I think FIDE should not rush things. They should first give it a good trial run," Anand told newspersons at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Calcutta Sports Journalists Club.

Anand, who arrived on his maiden visit to the city on Sunday night after becoming the first Asian World champion in December, said some tournaments are still being played in the old seven-hour format, while the shorter version of 25-minute rapid chess has also gone a long way in making the game popular.

"The four-hour game is interesting. I have no problem playing in this format. But a number of questions have been raised about the reduced timing. So FIDE must take care of these issues and introduce it on an experimental basis," he said.

To buttress his point, he referred to the traditional system of Elo rating and said the FIDE should first decide whether the system would hold good in the new format as well.

Asked about his World chamionship triumph at Tehran, where he demolished Alexei Shirov of Spain 3.5-0.5 in the final, the Grandmaster said: ''It was a great tournament though at times it was really tough.''

He rated his outings opposite Briton Michael Adams and Alexei Khalifmann of Russia in the tournamnent's Delhi leg, as also the summit clash against Shirov, as his toughest matches.

On whether he regretted not meeting Gary Kasparov in the World championship, Anand said: ''There is no question of being regretful. He did not play due to unavoidalbe reasons. Had he taken part I would have had no problems playing him.''

Anand said he would be glad to interact more frequently with the country's talented young chess players. ''I love playing the kids,'' he added.

He said that the country has a lot of talented youngsters who need to be groomed properly.

Anand favoured the World championship model as opposed to the Braingames tournament, saying the former provids ample opportunities for youngsters to come up from the level.

''In the Braingames tournament, only the higher ranked professionals can take part. But one should remember that in a World championship stakes are pretty high. So, nobody should be underestimated,'' he said.

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