Playing against 40 opponents simultaneously might be a unique experience for reigning World chess champion Viswanathan Anand.

V Anand can run for mathematician, says India GM Barua

Playing against 40 opponents simultaneously might be a unique experience for reigning World chess champion Viswanathan Anand. But Dibyendu Barua, who became India's second Grandmaster after Anand, has played simultaneously against 53, 76 and as many as 100 opponents respectively.u00a0 "The experience is great," Barua told MiD DAY yesterday. "Playing multiple opponents enables you to enhance focus. Also, it is quite a challenging experience," added Barua, who as a 12-year-old became the youngest to participate in the Indian National Championships.

The organisers of International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010, have shortlisted 40 participants for a chess game with Anand to be played in Hyderabad today.

Anand is believed to be a keen follower of mathematics as well as science and keeps a close watch on the developments taking place in these fields. Barua feels the affair will evoke a reciprocal response. "I am sure the participants, who are accomplished mathematicians, would want to learn from Anand ufffd the calculative points and logical thinking aspect of chess. And, Anand in turn would love to take a few maths tips from them. It will be an interesting match," Barua said.

Barua is not thinking or even bothered about the outcome of this match. He is delighted by the fact that this activity will serve as a huge promotional platform for the game of chess.

"The result could be 40-0 or perhaps 39-1. That's secondary. The important thing is that the game of chess will be publicised. Though we are the World Champions, the sport in India has not evolved as much it should have. We have taken some giant steps but still a lot needs to be done to popularise chess. I feel activities such as these will help promote it in a big way," Barua said.