Big interview with Anand

‘I see a bright future for India’
Sport Star Weekly

World No. 1 Viswanathan Anand speaks to A. Rangarajan on his life and times in chess .

After a couple of hiccups and a whole day’s delay, the ratings page of the FIDE website was finally corrected on April 2 to reflect the standings and Anand topped the list for the first time in his long and illustrious chess career. A day later, with his characteristic equanimity, he struck a picture of simplicity that seemed to send the message that no matter how heavy a crown may be it could still be worn lightly. And that picture also had in it a rare confidence and sureness that stood in an interesting contrast to that of his fans — while they were exhilarated and relieved at the same time,

Anand himself looked more like the man who was only keeping up a belated appointment with the number one spot.

Question: Anand, May I congratulate you at the outset on this extraordinary landmark achievement of getting to be world number one. It must be a very satisfying moment, sweeter than the FIDE World Championship victory in Tehran and Delhi in 2000. May I ask you, did it have to take so long and what are the reasons?

Answer: No it is quite funny, I was close to the number one spot on many occasions and either Topalov would come up with a burst and that would take it beyond my reach or something else would happen preventing me from getting there. And this time I had neither objective — I just went to play Linares not with any explicit aim of winning the title or getting to be the world number one. Somehow to have achieved both in the same tournament has been a pleasant surprise and some of the best things happen when they are totally unexpected. By the time I had finished the 11th round in Linares in March, I had an inkling that I was going to win the tournament. One point lead, three games to go — not an invincible lead but a comfortable position. On the penultimate day Topalov unexpectedly lost to Morozevich in a knight ending and suddenly I then realised I had scaled to number one as well!

You have been in the top 3, very consistently since the mid 1990s. This happens in the wake up of the PCA world championship against Kasparov — the famous September 11, Twin Tower match of 1995. One would think that after this match there is something that made you strong, what was it that made you strong?

To be honest, I would not really isolate this match in any sense, it was one match, I played it and I think you learn from that match. But then I learnt a lot from most of my experiences in 1994 and 1995. I think you first realise that getting to number one is very very difficult. My rise up to number 5 or 4 has been very smooth and from that point on to number one has been very arduous. Beyond that, say by 1996, I had moved on and had ceased to think about this match in any special sense — ok it was an important match but my game went on. In fact the very next year in Jan 1996 I won the Hoogovens Schaak Toornoi in Wijk aan Zee — the Corus tournament as it was known then. And in that period between 1992 and 1998 I think I was growing as a player, I had my vital breakthroughs by 1997/98 and 1998 was a special year and I won all the big five events — Corus, Linares, Dortmund etc..

Nevertheless, let us take the 1995 match out of this context and even then I wish to ask you, when did it occur to you that it is not just the game but also psychological toughness that has a big role to play in chess at the highest levels?

I don’t think there has been one eureka moment. It is something you realise again and again. You forget and then you realise and you keep correcting yourself. There is also this element that some mistakes stick to you. They are a part of your overall strengths and weaknesses composite and some of your strengths become your weakness and vice versa. And some lessons I have learnt over and over again. How in critical tournaments you can’t get carried away, regardless of results you have to stay concentrated etc. Victory could be very close and it could be snatched away. It is the same thing with psychological toughness. You have to keep working on it. This time at Linares it went great. I was stable and held on to my lead. I was feeling good and was in control. This going was good and I felt well. That doesn’t mean I have nailed it for the future. This lesson will come up again and one has to be vigilant and persevere. Euphoria should not sweep me of my feet nor should pessimism get the better of me.

Is it more difficult to recover from a defeat than fight complacency? Is that when psychological toughness assumes importance?

Yes, I think it is important how you are able to take the pain of defeat. You learn from other people too. Some one like Topalov has learnt to deal with it well and one can learn from him. He recovers so effortlessly from so many defeats. I too now take my defeats less hard and then over dinner talk about something else. I don’t torture myself over the lost game any more. In this context I can relate to Topalov. It has been impressive to see what he has accomplished over the last two years. This attitude helped me this year at the Corus tournament in February when I had a bad stretch. I took it cool and took the thought of winning the tournament out of my mind and started concentrating on the games at hand and then went on to win two games in a row and eventually landed 5th, which is not so much of a disgrace. Despite bad results it is important that you stay in control.

We have spoken at some length on the psychological tenacity needed to stay at the top. Remarkably you are the Mr. Nice Guy at the top. How do you cope with the tensions of high quality chess? You seem to reconcile these two sides so effortlessly, how do you do it?

I would say that most of my colleagues and particularly the younger generation are able to separate chess from the person. Occasionally bad relationships happen — it is not that everybody gets happily along all the time. By and large it is a good and healthy atmosphere at the top. When I talk to some one like Svidler or Carlsen the rivalry is there and we know we have to play each other tomorrow but then it never gets out of hand. On most occasions we are able to park the game and enjoy the rest of the day. The bonhomie is healthy and surely the atmosphere will provide feedbacks to you.

Here is the full interview.