Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand finally arrived India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yes.. Anand is going to be returning today,” the chess maestro’s wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning.
Anand, who had boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night and landed Bengaluru via Delhi.
He arrived in Bengaluru at 4.15 pm.
The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.
“He will complete quarantine procedures and are available to Chennai as per protocol,” Aruna Anand said.
The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.
The chess ace was in Germany to play within the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to remain put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the world , aside from restricting movement.
He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way thanks to the pandemic and led the Indian team within the Online Nations Cup early this month.
Anand had been in-tuned together with his family in Chennai on a daily basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess related work.