Anish Giri

I have tremendous respect for my colleagues.

If you are serious about being a professional chess player, do know what your parents think and what their expectations are from you.

Since I used to visit Nepal often in the past with my father, I have a fair idea about festivals and culture of both Nepal and India. The two countries have many similarities.

Yes, I think I have some good knowledge of India. I have lots of Indian friends in the chess fraternity.

I think chess players are not always what you think them to be. Or maybe it's our job to appear serious.

Online chess is very popular and cool, don't get me wrong, but it is a different discipline.

No, playing online is an entirely different experience and classical chess events never happen online.

I believe it is a good thing that there is always quite a lot of online attention around me, it only helps to popularize our fascinating sport and get the fans more excited to watch our games.

Shaking hands is meant as a sign of respect towards your opponent.

For the moment, I am more focused on classical chess rather than rapid and blitz, as I am hoping to make my move in the classical World championship cycle.

I did take part in a couple of Vishy Anand's training camps. The experience has truly been invaluable. I saw from up close the level of preparation that I should be striving for.

I like Hindi movies. Although my wife thinks the hero and heroine breaking into a song and dance every five minutes is ridiculous, but I find them entertaining.

My mother is Russian and father Nepalese, so we always had a chess board at home. Chess is part of the culture in both Russia and Nepal.

I barely know what my plans are for tomorrow, but I hope chess will remain a major part of my life.

Spending most of my time on chess there is not much else I can be much good at but I enjoy spending time with my wife, parents, siblings and friends, listening to music, some sports, the Web and well... the usual stuff.

I started chess around the age of seven. I was inspired by the game, but soon legends like Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer, Anand and many other world champions captivated me.

Despite having an Indian grandmother and a Nepalese father, I have never been to India before. I have been to Nepal a couple of times, which isn't that far.

Being one of the lucky ones I shouldn't be complaining, but for the chess world in general it would be good to find a structure in which chess professionals of lower levels would make a good living as well.

As a chess player I learn to adapt to new situations and always try to make the best move without looking back or asking why and how I ended up in a situation I ended up in.

Top players are privileged in the chess world.

Online it is much more important to have good quick instincts and the nature of opening preparations changes too, as there is less time to delve deep into the position once the computer preparation ends.