EXPLAINED: Why Viswanathan Anand is missing from India's Chess Olympiad squad for second time in a row

Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand isn't part of India's 2024 Chess Olympiad squad like in the last edition of the prestigious biennial FIDE tournament, but the Indian men's team may not feel his absence as much this time, considering how the likes of R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi and others have taken the legend's legacy forward in the last 2-3 years.India won a bronze medal in the 2022 Olympiad, which saw Anand's name missing from the squad. Before that, he played the unofficial online versions of the tournament during the Covid-19 pandemic.Why is Anand missing in the Olympiad squad again?Anand, who remains the flagbearer of the sport in India, is currently ranked 11th on FIDE world rankings that has two Indians in the top 10 -- Arjun Erigiasi at No. 4 and D Gukesh at No. 7. Praggnanandhaa occupies the 12th spot.Earlier this year, Gukesh scripted history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament and broke the legendary Garry Kasparov's record of becoming the youngest Candidates winner and challenger to the world title at 17 years old.Praggnanandhaa too made giant strides with his multiple wins over former world champion Magnus Carlsen and the reigning champion Ding Liren.It's probably because of the rise of India's young chess players that Anand has decided to sidestep and allow the country's next generation to take over on the biggest stage. In fact, Anand has mentored the likes of Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.So it's not surprising when he calls himself "semi-retired", which is an indication that it's a voluntary decision he has taken since 2020 to step away from the Olympiad.“I will play a few events next year. I don’t know yet what they are; I hope to play in Spain again. Semi-retired sort of means that I am slowly transitioning out instead of quitting one day, I am pacing myself," the 54-year-old Anand said in an interview with PTI.The Indian men's team is seeded second for this edition of the Olympiad and comprises Vidit Gujrathi, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaise, and P Harikrishna.Indian women's team, on the other hand, is the top seed and will be led by D Harika and R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agarwal. Tania Sachdev as the reserve player.