Gujrathi, who became a Grandmaster in 2013, finished eighth, well ahead of Anand's 16th-place finish.
It's hard to think of chess beyond Viswanathan Anand in India. But, the legendary Grandmaster himself is not too worried about it.
Young Indian Grandmasters made waves at the recently-concluded FIDE World Rapid Championship held in Doha, Qatar, in December. One among them was 22-year-old Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, who, surprisingly, attained the best finish by an Indian, surpassing Anand himself.
Gujrathi, who became a Grandmaster in 2013, finished eighth, well ahead of Anand's 16th-place finish.
"He is quite well, he knows his game, he is one of our best hopes," Anand said of Gujrathi in a media conference held here on Tuesday.
Another Indian, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, a relatively lesser-known player in the country — almost pulled off a major upset by giving World Champion Magnus Carlsen a real scare in Doha.
And the fact that so many Indians are competing at the highest level of the game right now makes him a "proud" man.
"There are so many Indians competing in the tournaments right now. I'm very proud of it," he said
Anand added that although he is a tad disappointed with how he signed off the year in Doha, it's not something that he keeps thinking about.
"Slightly disappointed end to the year for me, but I don't think about it too much," he reflected, adding that the year was otherwise "steady and positive."
"I won a couple of Rapid events. Mostly the year was positive. I think I was very steady this year," he said.
Talking about his schedule for 2017, the 43-year-old said he will have a lot of time to work on his game in the first quarter of the season.
"I will be free in the first quarter of the season, so it's good time to work as well. I have a lot of free time now," Anand said before confirming his participation for the World Cup that is slated to be held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 1-25.
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