“The only person you enjoy playing is the one who loses to you”
VISWANATHAN ANAND WORKS THE KEYBOARD TO TELL T2 WHAT MAKES HIM THE CHAMPION OF THE CHESS BOARD
Why did you decide to take up chess?
When I was about six, I saw my elder siblings play chess and pestered my mother into teaching me. Very soon, I was beating everyone at home and they thought it would be good to join a club. So my sister would take me to the Tal chess club on Thursdays and weekends. At the club we had a Sunday blitz where you stayed on if you won or joined a group and waited your turn. I got quite good in playing blitz and would end up playing for hours. Somewhere there people saw that I had talent. When I became national champion after an unbelievable performance, I became recognised as a chess talent. I would say it was only after I finished university that I more or less became professional. By then I was playing all the top events and had entered the World Championship cycle.
What have the positives and negatives of taking up chess been for you?
Chess has given me a lot more than I could ask for. I have been able to feel special, travel the world and do what I truly enjoy. Moreover, chess players love being their own boss and hate having to wake up early!
I guess you travel for so many events that your life is dictated by your performance and events and maybe you can’t be home for a festival or birthday of a relative.
Who have your chess idols been?
Fischer and Tal.
[For those readers who don’t know their bishop from their knight, American Bobby Fischer was a world chess champion widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time and Mikhail Tal of Latvia was a Grandmaster and the eighth world chess champion.]
Who or what would you attribute your success in the game to?
Hard work and staying clear of chess politics.
What are the key mental attributes needed to take up chess as a sport?
Like any activity, you have to first enjoy it. Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport. Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes.
I would say most youngsters should actually play a lot more, be it among themselves at the school level. As you play, you will notice the mistakes you make and learn from them. In my personal experience, we used to play blitz regularly at the Tal chess club. This was excellent in getting experience in the technique of play. I think my innate talent to play fast comes from there.
Here is the full article.
I like Anand, but to hear that Fischer is one of his idols is somewhat disturbing…
Fischer was indeed a great chess player, but I wish the worship of him would stop.
The question was on “chess idols”, not “role-models for life”, and so I think Fisher is an OK response.
It’s like asking who your favorite painter is– the response should reflect painting skills, and need not reflect the said painter’s character and wisdom.
Worship me! It makes me more powerful here in the chess afterlife!
BF