Anand rules out any plans of retirement

Anand, who won the world championship five times including the latest against Boris Gelfand in Moscow in May this year, says "there is definitely no thought of retirement". "In fact, it is quite the opposite", he told PTI in an interview here, clearly indicating that he Chennai: At 42, Viswanathan Anand is the second oldest of the top ten FIDE ranked players in the world, but the reigning world chess champion today ruled out any plans of retiring.

ntends to defend his title in 2014. Although Anand is the reigning world champion, Norway`s Magnus Carlsen, who is half his age at 21, tops the current world ratings given by FIDE, the world chess federation which keeps changing the ratings based on tournament play. Only Ukraine`s Vassily Ivanchuk is a little older than Anand, who is currently ranked ninth in the world. Ruling out retirement, Anand asked "how can I quit". In a career spanning over two decades, Anand has squared off and beaten many a tough opponents but the Indian chess legend considers Israeli Boris Gelfand as the toughest of them all for his discipline. Anand beat Gelfand to clinch his fifth world title earlier this year in a match that went into tie-break after both the players finished 6?6 in the regular games. "In a way, I consider Boris Gelfand of Israel as a tough rival. He is a very professional and disciplined chess player. In the World Championship, Gelfand deserved the title win as much as I but then this Championship has been my biggest test so far," Anand said. PTI