Globe-hopping Grandmaster: Anish Kumar Giri, Dutch-Russian-Nepali

Given his background, Giri could call himself a world citizen, which is appropriate for someone playing a universally popular sport

Chess Grandmaster Anish Kumar Giri, who narrowly missed qualifying as Challenger for a world title match, once referred to himself as “Dutch-Russian-Nepali”. It’s an accurate, if confusing, description. The tall, slim Dutch champion has a Russian mother and Nepali father. He also claims an India connection through his grandmother, who hailed from Varanasi. Given that background, he could call himself a world citizen, which is appropriate for someone playing a universally popular sport.
 
The World No 5 came within an ace of winning the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen, in the Candidates tournament at Yekaterinburg, Russia. At the halfway