Play often and keep trying, says Viswanathan Anand
By Ashok Purohit
May 15, 2016
Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, who is currently on a visit to Oman, had a simple message for aspiring players – play often and keep trying.
The 46 year old Indian Grandmaster was glad to know that the game is picking up in the sultanate and hoped his visit will serve as an impetus to the sport in the country. Speaking to Muscat Daily on his maiden visit to Oman, Anand ‘strongly believed’ that the sport has the ingredients to be popular worldwide.
“The game is catching up across the world as solution chess has hit on. Websites have helped a lot and chess has the right formula to expand.
“The most important thing needed to popularise the game is commentary. That is the key to take the game to the people. Chess is a complicated sport, but with good commentary from experts and informative graphics online and during live telecasts, the game can catch on,” said the legend.
“I have not done commentary in recent times but I would like to, if I am not playing,” he added. Anand, who became a Grandmaster at the age of 19 said, “This is a sport that has the potential to be a worldwide sport as it is not fenced by geography or climate.
“The game has evolved a lot since I became a world junior champion [1987] followed by the Grandmaster title a year later. Today’s game is getting faster, younger and computerised. I feel that my early success had a long-term impact in the promotion of the game in India.”
‘Chess in schools is the best way forward’
The former world champion felt that the best way to promote the game would be to have it started in schools.
“Once you introduce the game at a young age, it is the best way. In Oman also, I think that playing the game in schools will help it grow. The challenge is to make chess comprehensible for everyone. In schools, children will learn to play the game early, which will help generate their interest.”
‘Candidates’ failure was not a setback’
Having finished third at the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Moscow in March, Anand failed to qualify for the World Championship for the first time in ten years, but said, “It was not a setback. In fact, it was a very good result at a strong tournament. I was too inconsistent to qualify.”
Anand conceded that there would be tough roads ahead to qualify again, but said he would take it in his stride. “I’ve to qualify again. It has to be through World Cup or rating. That’s the first challenge, and then I will go from there. Certainly I will try again. Next time I expect new faces to join in. I hope I will still qualify and manage to try.”
Anand, who played simultaneous games with 20 selected players including schoolchildren at the Oman Avenues Mall on Friday, said, “One should not focus on success. Focus should be on the game and success will follow.
“You improve your odds of success if you try to do a good job and it gives you pleasure. Results will follow. You cannot chase results.” Anand is on a visit to Oman on an invitation from the International Chess Academy of Oman and Zawawi Establishment’s Al Alawi Enterprises.
‘Goodwill Ambassadors should have been named much earlier’
Viswanathan Anand said that he has not been approached by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympic Games. The decision of the IOA to name popular actor Salman Khan last month had divided the sporting fraternity with few supporting the decision and some criticising it.
The IOA later named Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Oscar winning music composer A R Rehman to be the Goodwill Ambassadors for the Indian delegation. Anand stayed clear of the controversy and said that he has not been approached so far.
“I have not been approached so far and I think it is too late to take up the role. “Ideally, the Goodwill Ambassador should have been named soon after London Games in 2012. To have Salman Khan as an Ambassador… it would have been nice to have him from 2012.”
Anand, who is a director on the board of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting India’s elite sportspersons and young talent, hoped that Indian athletes could win medals at the Olympic Games. “Good result at Rio will do a world of good to everyone and I hope for the best.”
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