Vishy unplugged

I lost my first three matches in a junior tournament in Chennai and when I came to know that my opponent in the fourth match would not turn up,I was nervous. The first 45 minutes made me nervous as I kept looking at the watch. During that time,a player used to get one point after the opponent would not turn up after one hour of the match. I would often stare at my mother and she would ask me to stay calm. Finally,when my opponent did not turn up,I thanked God as that was my first winning point in chess. I will not ever forget that point all my life.

On achieving the Grandmaster norm in 1987

I spent two years waiting for the title to come. I would try new strategies and when it did not happen,I was bit sad. Then in 1987,I took a three-month rest due to Class XII exams and that break from the sport worked well for me. Three months after my exams,I got the Grandmaster title. The period after that was also a learning curve for me. For two years,I did not have a goal and would often falter or lacked motivation. I talked to some of the fellow GM’s and they also shared the same thing to me. Later when I qualified for the world title,I realised that I have to set new goals.

On the rivalry with Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov

I played matches against both the players in 1990 and sometimes,they would say that Anand was a coffee house player. And he would not go far. But I did not see as a threat. I simply concentrated on my game plan. Yes,some players idolised them a lot but that time in the late 90’s was crucial for me. It made me realise that I belonged to the world stage and most of my crucial wins came during that time. During the 1995 World Championship title match against Gary Kasparov at the 107th floor of the World Trade Centre,we sat in a cube. Kasparov would go and slam the door after every move. It was his tactic of unsettling me. I still believe that I should have protested,which I did not do eventually.

On his World title matches against Veselin Topolov and Boris Gelfand

Topolov is a very clever player. One of his habits is that he would never talk during a match. And he would never offer and accept a draw offer. He would always play in dry positions and would tire the opponent. But I made it a point that the preparation for the match against him started at least a year in advance. As for Gelfand,he is a close friend. His son and mine are of the same age and during the World Championship at Moscow early this year,we would often talk about them. He plays fairly and it was a fair match. I knew that I had to score early wins in tie-break and luckily that happened for me.

On life away from chess

I have been busy since the birth of my son last year. Whenever at home,I wake up late and spend time with him. Sometimes,we go for shopping in the near-by market and my wife Aruna would prepare food at home. But sometimes I do think about chess. In chess,we have ELO ratings which always end with 5 or 10. Once,my wife put a numerical lock to a safe and the number was 2706. I told her that it does not relate to ELO rating as mine was hovering around the same figure at that time. And she replied that June 27 was our marriage anniversary and hence the number.

On Challenge from younger player like Norway’s Magnes Carlsen

Magnes is a fine chess player and I am looking forward to the match with him next year. I am 42 now and I have not thought about retirement as yet. It will happen at one stage,but I am not thinking about it now.