‘Thank you, Chennai’: Anand
Ashok Venugopal
First Published : 22 Nov 2008 12:37:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 22 Nov 2008 07:36:20 AM IST
CHENNAI: The phone hasn’t stopped ringing at Viswanathan Anand’s residence in Rajah Annamalaipuram ever since he touched down in the city at midnight on Thursday. After flying all the way from Spain, he hasn’t had time to catch up with his sleep or spend time with his parents. “In fact, Aruna (Anand’s wife) is complaining that she hardly got to see me on Friday morning. I’ve been glued to the phone answering calls,” the recently crowned world chess champion told The New Indian Express.
By beating Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in the match-play final of the World Chess Championship in Bonn last month, Anand has become the only player to win the world chess title in all three formats of the game. His earlier wins came in New Delhi/Teheran (knockout) in 2000 and Mexico (tournament format) in 2007.
“It’s a terrific feeling. While it feels nice to have won the crown, I was really moved by the sight of so many people having come to the Chennai airport to receive me,” says Anand.
Given that Kramnik had refused to acknowledge Anand’s status as defending world champion, has he proved a point with his victory? “Not really. Kramnik is a strong player and I began my preparation for the final while in India with IM V Saravanan and GM K Sasikiran. Later, the entire team moved to Europe. We barely slept for 3 to 4 hours a day to work on my moves for the match. We worked hard for the victory against Kramnik and I cherish it,” says the champion.
For Anand, while his three world titles are “close” to his heart, “the win in 2000,” he says, “was special as it was my first world title.” There might not be any peaks left for him to conquer in his sport, but for Anand, “the challenge of playing chess is motivation enough” for him to continue. “When I won the title last year in Mexico and was ranked number 1 in the world, people asked me what my next goal was. Let me say that I enjoy the game and its challenges,” he says. “But for now, I’m on vacation.”
Source: http://www.expressbuzz.com/
Anand is a great Champion!