“I think this time I played better. I was well-prepared and gauged the direction of the matches correctly,” said Anand on the sidelines of a programme organised by the computer giants NIIT here today.

Anand took part in rapid chess, gave away prizes to the winners of the inter-college meet.

He puts the onus on the All India Chess Federation (AICF) for the development of the game in the country. “Some of the things which they (AICF) have done are good. Now we have lots of tournaments. But perhaps the AICF can do a lot more. They should see to it that the game is spread throughout the country. They should also organise more international tournaments.”

With proper support system, Anand feels quite a few Indians have the potential to emulate his feat. “There are some really promising players like Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Krishnan Sasikiran, Parimarjan Negi. Among the girls, we have Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and Tania Sachdev. They are all very good prospects.” He singled out Ganguly, who was one of his seconds during the Bonn duel.

But is there a particular recipe that can make a champion? “First of all, find something you love. The rest is a question of enjoying and practicing,” Anand said.