Chess and cricket: Only a Short Opening apart

For British Grandmaster Nigel Short, cricket is almost as important a part of life as is his other C — chess. And Indian cricket fans w...

For British Grandmaster Nigel Short, cricket is almost as important a part of life as is his other C — chess. And Indian cricket fans would be encouraged to know that he is an ardent fan of the Indian cricket team. Short (38), who finds a special place in British chess history as their best player in 100 years, has religiously woken up at 2.30am to catch the cricketing action Down Under between India and Australia at home in Athens, Greece, a city he has made his home for the past 15 years.

The top-seed at the Commonwealth Chess Championship to be played here from Saturday spoke about his favourite cricket team and how India should have won the Sydney Test, speaking to The Indian Express at the Cricket Club of India (CCI). ‘‘India should have won the Sydney Test. Their batting line-up is finally making its presence felt.’’

A regulation comment any cricket watcher could have made? Not so, as you listen in on him talking about how Anil Kumble plotted his dismissals, and how newcomer Irfan Pathan yorked Adam Gilchrist. Sample this: ‘‘It was amazing to see the boy (Pathan) swing the ball both ways so early in his career’’. He is clearly a GM not ‘short’ on technical knowledge.

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Why India? The Short answer is: ‘‘India are a powerhouse who stood up against the Australian onslaught. They have managed to break that psychological barrier against the Aussies who stayed put only because of their will power and a slice of luck.’’

Australian cricket is incomplete without just-retired Steve Waugh, he asserts. ‘‘Steve’s was an amazing career. An amazing leader, he was a consistent player…,’’ he trails off with a tinge of emotion.

Short’s love for cricket dates back to his schooling days in Lancashire. ‘‘But I was not as good as the others,’’ he says. He was completely hooked on to the game 12 years ago when his Greek wife Rhea gave birth to daughter Kyveli and his duty hours with the baby’s diapers coincided with the England-West Indies series.

Soon he realised that cricket — especially the longer version of the game, was more than a sport. ‘‘In Test cricket you expect something to happen but it does not. I was fascinated by that element of uncertainty. It’s a team game and individual game as well. Once you are there at the middle, you are free to make a hero out of yourself.’’

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Once his interest deepened, he established his own method of watching the Tests. ‘‘You have to watch Test cricket with the right frame of mind. Only then you can enjoy the prolonged period of excitement provided by the likes of the Shoaib Akhtars, Sachin Tendulkars and Virender Sehwags.’’

An obvious question, seeing his interest in cricket, is whether there are any commonfactors that bring the two games together. Yes, he says. ‘‘In both games one mistake is enough to cause your downfall. And you need the same degree of concentration to achieve results. And there are no comebacks.’’

And one thing common between Short and millions of Indians is the ‘‘unlimited love’’ for batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. So much so that he has turned his best friend, a Russian, into a Tendulkar addict. Peter Swidler “is now such a fanatic that he’s adopted the nickname ‘Tendulkar’ on the Internet!’’