Mumbai, Feb 11 (IANS): The legendary Viswanathan Anand on Sunday interacted with the 14 players competing at the National ‘A Chess Championship for the visually challenged in Mumbai.

Anand, a five-time world champion, said he was following the progress of each player and was amazed to see how motivated and determined these players were and how they were giving their best performance to go ahead in the race for the World Championship.

He spoke to them about their games and shared interesting insights on ways to defeat the opponent, according to a release.

"I have huge respect for the visually challenged chess players as they have an excellent memory and visual imagery of the game to compete with a sighted player," the 48-year-old said.

"I hope that blind chess will get the recognition it deserves in India at the earliest," he added.

"I would like to wish all the players the very best and am looking forward to seeing the best results in the upcoming world championship."

All India Chess For Blind (AICFB) President Charudatta Jadhav said: "Anand has always supported the visually challenged chess players in every manner. We are really grateful to him for taking out his time for the players and giving them the morale boost to excel.

"The players were truly excited to meet the champion and were enthused by his words of inspiration."