NEW DELHI: Nearly 20 years ago, when Viswanathan Anand made his second Grandmaster norm on his 18th birthday in the Capital, there was just one journalist covering the invitational tournament that most senior scribes then thought was a non-event.

"I remember that," a smiling Anand said when reminded of that very special afternoon at the Russian Centre.

On Saturday, a number of young mediapersons, in their early 20s, waited patiently for their turn at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to meet the man who remains the finest ambassador of Indian sports.

Before Anand won over the new breed of journalists, he addressed the GNIIT graduates at the IIT Auditorium. In his brief yet motivational speech, Anand underlined the importance of being passionate in one's pursuit. "Curiosity gets the mind of work, you don't have to force it. Chase your goals passionately. And remember, mind is your only ally."

Motivated

Looking ahead to the eight-man field for the World championship in Mexico City from September 13 to 29 in Mexico City, the 2000 World champion said, "there was a period until 2005 when there was no World championship.

"So you can imagine that I am really motivated for this event. We have not had a unified (World) title for the best part of two decades. So it's very important to seize this chance. Unfortunately, it all comes down at one place in Mexico City, if there, you don't perform, you don't get a second chance.

"You have to wait for two years to get your next shot. I'll be taking July-August off for training. It's the big event for me this year and it's the one thing I am really looking forward to," Anand said.

World champion Vladimir Kramnik, Anand, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich have been seeded for Mexico. The other four will be identified following the on-going qualifying cycle in Elista.

Before playing in Mexico, Anand is slated to play in an eight-player field in Dortmund (June 23 to July 1), a 20-minute rapid chess tournament in a four-player field in Leon (July 4 to 9) and in Mainz (August 14 to 19).

Anand reiterated that there was a lot of talent in the country.

"I find it very hard to judge prodigies. What looks promising to my eyes may not really be very relevant in today's context. All you can say is that somebody has some innate ability. If you compare (Bobby) Fischer's games and say X or Y is doing the same what Fischer did 40 years ago, it no longer has the same relevance."

From the NIIT's Mind Champion Academy, Anand chose to mention two impressive performers, Srinivas Verma from Hyderabad and Kartikeyan from Chennai. "Now we are looking at possibilities to help them grow stronger," he said.

Praises Negi

On the prodigious Parimarjan Negi, Anand said, "we'll see a lot of him in the next two years and see how he is going to develop. Now he has really started to play a lot. He is playing practically everywhere. He played in Sweden and then played this excellent tournament in Kirishi where he finished tied for the first place.

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