Viswanathan Anand learnt chess basics from his mother!
By Shailesh Menon, ET Bureau|
Sizing up the competition is as crucial to running a company as it is on a board of chess. Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on the rigour of the game, the emotional stress — and why it is important to read the mind pitted against you.
“You can’t discount any opponent in chess,” says former world champion and Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, ahead of several international tournaments over the next few months. Anand, on the sidelines of the ETPanache Trendsetter Awards, talks about the rigours of the game, his numerous battles and the future of Indian chess. Edited excerpts from a conversation with him:
How stressful is your job?
It gets very stressful during tournaments. But then it all boils down to how good or how bad your day was. If you have good results at the end of the day, you’ll not be tired one bit. You can endure it all. But if it’s bad results, it seems like you’ve played three tournaments in one day. It’s more emotional stress. Some evenings, you’d just want to drop without any further delay. This is where yoga, stretching exercises, walking and all helps.
It must be nerve-racking battling the best players on a 64-square board…
It gets pretty competitive out there. See, the base of it all is in anticipating what your opponent will do. If you can guess what your opponent might do, you may have an upper hand. You’ll be able to play better then. You may even get an edge over your opponent. Chess is like any other competitive sport that way. You’ve to keep reviewing how your opponents react to situations. You get to learn a lot simply by looking at other’s games.
How rigorous is your preparation for big tournaments?
It gets pretty rigorous before tournaments. You start your practice two months before the actual tournament. But even during these sessions, you’ve to give yourself enough breaks. If you don’t space it out well – and continuously practise – your game could turn mechanical.
Who has been your toughest opponent?
All of them are good in their respective games. Chess is one game where you can’t discount any opponent. You need to keep up high levels of practice before every important game.
You don’t get a lot of positive chances against accomplished players.
Even if you get them, it’s hard to convert them to your advantage.
What’s the future of Indian chess?
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