[1]He has been the undisputed world champion for the past five years but Indian chess veteran Viswanathan Anand has no plans of calling it quits just yet as he says his morale is on a high after beating a 'complicated' Boris Gelfand to notch up his fifth world title.
"There are definitely no thoughts of retirement. In fact quite the opposite. (Winning a fifth world title) has been a huge boost to my morale. As long as I enjoy, I don't see any reason to retire," Anand told reporters during a felicitation function organised by his long-time sponsors NIIT here on Sunday.
Anand defeated Israeli Boris Gelfand in the World Championship match a few days ago to successfully defend his world title.
"I am still enjoying the game having just defended my title. Winning in Moscow meant a lot emotionally. It's not only about records. It's just that you hate losing and you love winning. I am looking forward to playing chess and winning tournaments," Anand said.
"For me, the number has been irrelevant. Every title defence is special. I simply want to enjoy playing chess. There is no checklist," he added.
The 42-year-old was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin for tea after his triumph in Moscow. Recalling the meeting, Anand chuckled about Putin's remark 'So, we brought this on ourselves' when the Indian told him how training at the Russian Culture Centre had helped his game.
"Well we laughed because I thought it was a witty line. The meeting was almost half an hour. He is very knowledgeable about chess. He spoke about how chess is important in Russian culture. He was generally very gracious. I thought that was a quick one," he recalled.
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