An article by Vishy Anand

INDIA EMPOWERED TO ME IS
When we realise opportunities never come, they’re made, as in chess

Vishwanathan Anand, Chess Grandmaster

In 2001 at the Kremlin, in the highest realm of chess, I, the lone non-Soviet player there, was in a game against Vladislav Tkachiev. At a certain moment, I played a move and saw about 1,500 Russian hands clap in unison. In chess, these kinds of gestures are very rare when a crowd applauds in the midst of a game. To be acclaimed by the critics in their land for your talent is heartwarming. For me, it was a moment when I felt proud to have the tricolour beside my board.

The answer to what my country can achieve and my role in it lies with Neeraj Mor. A lad from Haryana who learnt chess from the NIIT Mind Champions Academy portal, Neeraj Mor represents the Indian of the next generation. Adept in computers and a perseverance to achieve, he has shown that chess has no language or geography. Only success and defeat. For me, Neeraj represents GenNext.

In 1984, I travelled abroad for the first time to play. It was there I met Ivanchuk, Dreev, Gelfand and Piket. People from my age group. At that event I realised if I had to be in the top 1% of my sport, these are the guys to beat; if I do that, I will always be the best player from my country. I think in sports, sometimes we value titles in name and not in spirit. If we have to be a global force in sport, we have to set our eyes on absolute performance.

Sometimes we tend to be content with what we have and fear risking unchartered paths. In sports, there are small windows when you have to prove your worth. If you let that moment pass, it never comes back. As 15-year-olds start playing with the world elite, we need to understand that opportunities never come. They get made. We are excellent in post-mortem analysis but we do not have a proactive strategy. I think China understood that very well.

Education is an important component of life. It is not just academics but social skills that are extremely important. It is quite sad to see young children forced to leave school to learn chess. I went through university, reading Archives and listening to Madonna while being World No. 5 and never felt I had to give up any of that to be a chess player.

When you represent a sport, what you do influences the sport. In certain sports you have to achieve at the highest level to keep your sport in the public eye. Maybe that has made India a chess force to reckon with. Chess has come a long way since the eighties when I started out. We were all in the race to become the first Indian Grandmaster. Now India is an accepted chess nation. We are ranked 15th in terms of our absolute strength – an excellent statistic that says a lot about new talent.

Chess is one of the few games where gender is not a division. India has produced world-class players of both sexes. I think this has helped overcome preconceived notions and girls should be encouraged to participate more in school level events. After all, it was my mother who showed me how to play. What needs to change is the official bureaucracy in the form of various sports associations. Most officials forget that they represent the players.

For me, India Empowered is when I am not Mr Anand from the land of snake charmers and mystic eccentricities but Anand from a country whose intellectual capital is coming of age. India is a country where in every household there is a lamp of ingenuity, intelligence and perseverance. Now the light is on us and the world is taking notice.

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