Vishy Anand: I found Bobby Fischer surprisingly normal and calm
The world chess champion on analysing with the legendary American, being a new dad and his love of Monty Python
Sean Ingle
Thursday 1 December 2011 19.17 EST
How does it feel to be back for the London Chess Classic? It’s excellent. I enjoy this tournament immensely. It’s a great showcase for chess in Britain and it has the worthy aim of building chess in schools too.
So when enthusiastic kids ask how they can become chess masters, what do you tell them? Just keep playing often. Concepts fall into place only when you get them on the board. It’s a bit like learning a language; it’s nice to read a book, but only when you speak to someone does it all start to fall into place.
When you are preparing for major tournaments like London how many hours a day do you devote to getting ready? As much as it takes – up to 10 hours if needed – plus another two or three hours during the tournament.
And how do you prepare physically? Mostly by running and doing weights. Mainly it’s to relieve yourself of tension, and to sleep soundly.
It sounds a strange question to ask a world chess champion, but how much can you bench? I don’t bench press but I use machines to work 10-12 muscle groups. Biceps, triceps, a few things for the back, calves, shoulders and so on — and then I’ll go on the running machine, cross-trainer or mountain climber.
The Soviet world champion Mikhail Botvinnik used to get training partners to deliberately blow smoke in his face to prepare for opponents who may try to unsettle him. Is there anything you do to prepare for psychological tricks or gamesmanship? Not really, but when smoking was allowed I really hated it. Thankfully it’s been banned for 20 years or so now.
Which opponent pushed those boundaries most? [Long pause] Well, I had very difficult matches with [Gata] Kamsky and Garry Kasparov in the 1990s. They were psychologically intense, probably because I was still inexperienced.
So what was it like facing a peak Kasparov glaring at you? Well, it’s annoying – because first of all he makes good moves and on top of that there’s all the other pressure he inflicts too. But what made Kasparov dangerous was his moves. If he was making faces and then played bad moves we would have just laughed at him. These days, I think you can over-estimate the psychological stuff.
How good are you at picking up on your opponents’ ‘tells’? It’s not like I can read their minds completely but I can usually work out in which direction their thoughts are heading. Often their breathing is a tell-tale sign. Sometimes an opponent stops breathing and you realise something drastic has happened and they are trying not to let on. Or they go quiet, or they get fidgety. After a while you pick these things up and become more alert to them.
The BBC are currently showing the documentary Bobby Fischer, Genius and Madman. You met Fischer in 2006, a couple of years before he died. What was he like? I found him surprisingly normal. Well, at least not very tense. He seemed to be relieved to be in the company of chess players. He was calm in that sense. He was also a bit worried about people following him, so the paranoia never really went away. But I am really happy I got the chance to meet him before he died in 2008. It was weird as well because I kept having to remind myself that this was Bobby Fischer sitting in front of me!
Were you tempted to whip out a pocket chessboard and challenge him to a quick blitz game? No, because he whipped out his pocket chess set first and we started to analyse some recent games I’d played.
Really? Yes, I showed him some of my games from Wijk aan Zee and tried to share some interesting developments. He was sort of able to follow everything – he hadn’t lost his sharpness for chess – but his methods were a bit dated. In that sense he had fallen behind.
How do you mean? Well, he had some suggestions, and he was sort of in the ball park … but when I would tell him that the computer says white is winning here, for me that was a sign to move on – but for him it was a starting point to argue with me! [Laughs]. I found it difficult to say to him ‘No, no, no – these computers are really strong. You shouldn’t be arguing with them!”‘
If you could go back in time, which world champion would you have most liked to have faced at their peak? Mikhail Tal or Bobby Fischer. How would I have got on? Well, it depends whether the time machine drops me back in 1960 or 1972 or it puts Tal and Fischer in 2011. It would make a big difference.
OK, on to the important questions. You’re a Monty Python fan, right? Very much so.
Do you have a favourite sketch? I have a few. Of course there’s the Parrot sketch, and Michelangelo and the Pope. And there’s one where some Nazis are in an English hotel. That’s quite funny as well.
And does your love of Python extend to Fawlty Towers and the Life of Brian? Absolutely. I’ve watched all of them. With Fawlty Towers I can pretty much tell you episodes off by heart …
Really? Yes, afraid so. I also watched the whole of the Yes Minister series, and last year I went to the theatre production, which was updated to take in the financial crisis, people trafficking and so on.
Are you a cricket fan? I’m not a big one. But in India you get to watch it every day anyway.
What’s the last album you bought? Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto. I’m just about getting used to it. I like U2 as well.
And the last book you read? One on Steve Jobs that was published after his death.
Right, time for some crowdsourced questions via Twitter. Benonix asks whether it’s inevitable that Grandmasters decline after 40 – and also how long do you reckon you have left at the top? Grandmasters decline with age. That’s a given. There is nothing special about the age of 40, but age eventually takes its toll. That much is clear. Beyond that it’s about how long you can put off the effects and compensate for them. Mistakes will crop in but you try to compensate for them with experience and hard work.
Figgmeister tweets: I’d love to know what you made of Carlsen doing the modelling gig. Is that OK for a chess master? Sure. I thought it was brilliant. And definitely it improved the image of chess.
Do you read chess books or do you just spend your time mining databases? I do. Right now I’m reading the best games of my next World Championship opponent, Boris Gelfand. He will be a very difficult opponent because he’s so experienced.
You’re a newish father. How is that experience? [With genuine emotion] It’s amazing! For the first time I begin to understand my parents as well. It’s an experience that really changes your life. I’m having a blast. He’s eight months now and he’s just started to stand up and babble a bit too.
Have there been times when you’ve been changing nappies in between sessions on Rybka? Yeah, I did my bit of waking up at 2am but generally my wife has been doing most of the hard work …
Bollywood or Hollywood? I’m more into Hollywood films.
Who or what would you put in Room 101? Excuse me? [Small Talk goes on a long, rambling explanation detailing the finer points of the concept]. Ah, OK. Let’s say traffic. And corruption in India, which is a big problem.
Speaking of India, you were back there last year for a dinner with Barack Obama. How was that? Well, I wasn’t sitting at his table so I spoke to him for only a few minutes.
Did you talk chess or US foreign policy? [Laughs] There wasn’t time! We just made small talk …
Well, we know all about that Vishy. Thanks for your time, and good luck in London. Thanks Small Talk. It’s been a pleasure.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Anand is way better than Fischer.
Anand is just a regular dude…as was skillfully displayed by this interviewer.
It’s sort of funny because nothing Mr Anand surprised me.He’s just a nice..and laid back sort of dude. Well done by the interviewer to capture that.
One important question the interviewer failed to ask and everybody would like to know the answer: What does he think of his 9 consecutive draws (there appeared no effort from him to win!) in Tal Memorial 2011?
One possible reason could be that it was part of his World Championship preparation against Boris Gelfand, to be able to draw remaining games when he would be securely ahead in scores (may be that he doesn’t want to humiliate his long time associate with runaway scores).
The newcoming London tournament has me thinking of chess. Well, here is the only game I saved at yahoo after summer, I hope it does not embarrass me too greatly, it should have some virtues or else I would not have saved it. And finally I got to practice my Vienna skills, though really now I decided first to post and then to look at it close up (In coming might be a post saying how all of what was played was stupid, though why. The chessplayers will realise such things as well or better than me, if such is the case. I did save the game for a reason, from october it is.)
;Title: Yahoo! Chess Game
;White: hrudanko
;Black: kangarooone
;Date: Mon Oct 17 20:47:27 PDT 2011
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
2. b1-c3 c7-c6
3. g2-g3 g8-f6
4. f1-g2 f8-e7
5. g1-e2 o-o
6. o-o a7-a5
7. f2-f4 d7-d6
8. d2-d4 b8-d7
9. f4xe5 d6xe5
10. d4xe5 f6-g4
11. e2-f4 e7-c5+
12. g1-h1 g4-f2+
13. f1xf2 c5xf2
14. e5-e6 d7-f6
15. d1-f3 f2-a7
16. e6xf7+ f8xf7
17. b2-b3 f6-g4
18. h2-h3 g4-e5
19. f3-h5 a7-d4
20. c1-b2 d8-f8
21. a1-d1 c6-c5
22. f4-e2 e5-c6
23. e2xd4 c6xd4
24. c3-d5 a8-a6
25. c2-c4 a6-h6
26. h5-g5 c8xh3
27. b2xd4 h3-g4+
28. h1-g1 g4xd1
29. d5-f6+ h6xf6
30. d4xf6 f7xf6
31. g5-d5+ f6-f7
32. d5xd1 b7-b6
33. e4-e5 g7-g6
34. g2-d5 g8-g7
35. d5xf7 f8xf7
36. d1-d5
There anyway, later tonight I look at it myself.
Nice interview. Anand is a fine gentleman and Champion. To anon ‘ Anand is way better than Fischer’ – you are a very silly person indeed!
At least it’s a well proven fact that Kasparow was a much stronger player than Anand.
Anand is an interbellum champion between Kasparow and some new kid.
Oh well I promised to comment. First, I think I wanted to find out what would happen after 8. d4. The opponent seemed I recall now, and would think now, seem passive with the a5 (Not to be thought bad, just a tad slow his plan). So I thought I had the time to find out what happens if I just play d4. Well, d3 would have been better I gather.
And then I totally missed the catastrophy on f2: I’ve played king’s gambits so long I’d forgotten that could happen to me. After that, all my plans were askew, I had to regain the material before endgame or lose, when I would have been prepared to give some to gain an edge. I did my best, the position tried to become very concrete, and all my machinations and bluffs retained the equilibrium, me being an exchange down.
But I hadn’t given up, and in the midst of his pawn moves I made one, which would seem my last chance of advancing the e-pawn, and the blunders came even. At the final position I think I have the advantage, though I don’t know why he gave up: I gather the right person won; I did not give up a good time ago, now he couldn’t stand a queen endgame(perhaps he only thought of the exchange)
I always think the game is won when it is won.
Anand better than Fischer?!
O:K: Anand made more draws in one year than Fischer in his whole career:)
And at any vienna or king’s gambit, the f1 rook is just something you take granted is there, unless you do something with it. It is part of the plan.
So on that game I mean, immediately after losing the exchange, I took a good time to think on the position, but still I decided first of all not to lose the pawn if I could avoid it, but I was getting a sort of appealing position an exchange down, and while I’d recovered from the shock of a blunder, and I did not , I think at one or two moments or moces, where I was amassing a space advantage, I think I actually had garned compensation for the exchanged.
I was too fixated on getting the material back. I was more than an exchange down despite the pawn up when it happened, I think, but because I was fixated on creating complications, I ignored pawns, I forgot the h3 pawn, and without that I could have played positionally. After that my hand was forced. There was nothing stopping him from playing a Kh8 after the Nf6+ and I’m lost I believe, I wouldn’t give up but I saw nothing. Seemed a good try, cause the Queen fork was fairly camouflaged.
Actually thinking on the final position, black might have the advantage, queen f4 or f5 and I’m gonna really have to think up something. His king is always closer to the pawn. Of course for my calibre of players, queen endgames are always a bit random. I know if he tries something I can immediately win his b pawn, but then he can win my a-pawn. will the e-pawn and the queen coordinate then. There’s always the kingside minority.
So, I think I had resilience there that he lacked, but I lacked flexibility in plans.
Still I was right to win, I did not give up.
And losing the rook there, I took 4 minutes after that, but I had to play moves, while the next two moves perhaps I was still thinking, perhaps I should not have done what I did with the e5 pawn. I won’t fault the queen moves, I’m trying to be fast and provoke mistakes.
Rather than trying to defend a draw, the rook over knight does not tell yet.
Suddenly I tried to make king threats to get something back, and I expected to lose an exchange down, but I did lose that one pawn, so not losing that might have been better than the game.
Or perhaps in actuality I still did the best I could in that position. I am, after all, not playing it now. I mean I immediately discarded moving the king out of the discovered check, I well remember, I looked at it a second and then looked at other options.
Hope I’m not going with this too much, but even if there had been something with Nf6 Kh8, I’d have resigned, probably, well I would have had 2 more minutes to think about it(and would have used them), but I thought it was all I could try, ever since he took on h3, and sure as a fig I did move quickly. Not to make it sound better.