Anand not scared, assures Aruna
By Ashok Venugopal – CHENNAI
Published: 05th November 2013 09:27 AM
Last Updated: 05th November 2013 09:27 AM
With hardly four days left before World Championship clash between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, the mind games have already begun.
The match that begins on Saturday promises to be a keen tussle. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has stirred a storm by stating that “Anand is scared of Carlsen. The only problem that he is facing is that he is somewhat intimidated by Carlsen,” Kramnik had said.
But Team Anand is cool as cucumber and not provoked by such statements. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If Kramnik has said something, it is his opinion. We are not hurt or disappointed or anything like that. On the personal level, Anand and Kramnik are good friends,” said Aruna Anand, wife and manager of the five-time world champion.
For Anand & Co it is business as usual as preparations are on in full swing. “Anand has been preparing for a while now and at the moment he is well prepared and is gearing up for the match,” said Aruna.
“Anand knows his job well and is confident of putting up a good show. In other words, he is ready for the challenge,” added Aruna.
Anand’s age, fitness is being held against him when compared to Carlsen, who is almost half his age. “To me, Anand is very much fit and he is spot on in the job. He has the experience and knows best how to go about the job,” said Aruna. During his training, Anand has been almost cut off from the world and in touch only with his seconds. “I would say he is focussed on his game. That’s the way he prepares. Anand is a practical and pragmatic person. He knows what is expected of him and lets not forget that he is a seasoned campaigner,” said Aruna.
Aruna feels blessed to be Anand’s wife and finds the chess legend humble and down to earth. “As a person he is still the same and has not changed a wee bit over the years. Even if we leave out the fact that he is a chess legend, he is still a wonderful human being,” said the proud wife.
Fatherhood has changed Anand in the sense that it has renewed his vigour and zest for life. He is a lot more jovial and has shed some of his shyness and even changed his reserved nature. “Fatherhood is a life-changing milestone for Anand. Our son (Akhil) has brought a lot of joy to the family,” said Aruna.
How does Anand’s parents feel about the World Championship match? “It is a nostalgic moment for them. Anand’s mother Susheela used to take him to chess classes during weekends. All are happy for Anand and the entire family is behind him and wishes that he does well,” signed off Aruna.
Source: http://newindianexpress.com
Everyone is scared of Magnus.
“Entire family is behind Anand”
I would say whole country is behind Anand firmly
What will Carlsen do…reach across the table and hit Anand in the face? Of course there is no reason to be scared.
Anand never beat Kramnik in a match for the title like Kramnik beat Kasparov! This is why many still feel Kramnik is the true world champion, not Anand.
Anand got the title from Kramnik under subterfugous circumstances in a tournament where Kramnik did Fide a real favor just to unite the titles, but it was very bogus.
Yes, afterward there was a match featuring Anand vs Kramnik but they made Kramnik play it as the challenger not the champion another bogacity. Most of the world championship matches are won by the defender of the title not the challenger. Totalm psychological screw job.
No doubt if Fide played by the rules Kramnik would be playing against Carlsen not Anand but Fide chose to go with multiculturicty to stop the Russians from dominating Chess anymore. If you look at the chess of Kramnik and Anand since, Kramnik far outstrips Anand in every way. Anand zero tournament victories!
I think it is all engineered by Fide. (This is why they voted down Karpov and Kasparov now for president because they are Russian.) What is the strange explanation that Ivanchuk played so well in the candidates tournament final game? A call from Kirzan in the middle of the night no doubt to the room of Ivanchuk. Do you think they were talking about baloney sandwiches?
All of this is engineered by Fide the people need to wake up and use their minds to understand who the real world champion is and not go with the theater Fide puts on and calls a championship.
Also 12 games, another bogacity!
To the Anonymous above,
Wake up and accept the fact that Anand is 5 time world champion in all format. When he was in his prime, he was so strong in rapid chess. One of the creative genius exist. Kramnik acknowledge Anand’s strength all the time, then how a Kramnik’s fan can even dare to write something own made philosophy like you just wrote above!!!
Despite the proven record of Vishy’s abilities to beat challengers in all formats of the game (Rapid, Blitz and classic) and the only player to do so to retain his World Champion status, it is unfortunate to see people still making such sensational claims. As a matter of fact both Vishy and Kramnik have claimed that they are warmest of buddies now. This would not have been possible if the claims mentioned by the anonymous guy above were true. It should also be noted that Kramnik and Kaparov have helped Vishy in defending his title. So now its fair to conclude that there is no utter sensation in the fact that Vishy is the undisputed World Champion and is facing a prodigical Chess hero capable of beating him in a match. Lets leave it to that and hope for the person who plays better wins the match.