NEW DELHI, APRIL 24: Viswanathan Anand is not used to finishing last. But that is precisely what happened last week at the Dos Hermanas event in Spain. However, while his fans have panicked, Anand stays calm. ``My confidence is not downplayed by any panic or undue worry,'' he reassured.For almost the entire duration of the Hermanas tournament, he seemed preoccupied. The form that had won him the Chess Oscar the previous season seemed to have deserted him. Was something bothering him? ``Oh, no. I was just tired. I had played a little too much in the past three to four months. A little rest, and it will be fine,'' he said with a smile, at the function organised by NIIT, whose educational programmes Anand will now endorse.What about the rumour that a businessman-cum-chess organiser Bessel Kok was pursuing him persistently to agree to a `World Championship' match with Garry Kasparov? ``Yes, I have been approached, and I am still considering it,'' he added.Did those negotiations for the match, which isbelieved to carry a purse of three million dollars - two million for the winner and one for the loser - play on his mind in Dos Hermanas? He laughed that off. ``It wasn't that bad. I was approached a few times.''The buzz is that Kok and the organisers for the match wanted Anand's answer by April 23. So, since the deadline is over, does it mean he has turned down the offer. ``I can't really make a comment on that,'' he said suggesting that a match with Kasparov is still possible. ``You will get to know it soon.''But where does that match fit in with a packed schedule already in place. There is the Advanced Chess (players have the assistance of computers while playing) Match with Karpov in Leon in June; then the World Championships in July-August, plus tournaments in Dortmund, Tilburg later on in the year. He also has an exhibition match with Fritz in Frankfurt. Again that familiar laugh. ``Maybe towards the end of the year,'' and that's as close as he comes to confirming a possible re-match withKasparov.Anand offers no excuses for failures. He sees them as part of the game. But he understands the frustration of his fans, who now have only one question: ``When will you become No 1?'' By now he has developed a stock answer for that: a smile, a shrug and simple, ``it will come.''At a time when the World Championships have not really become a regular feature, Anand realises that only a victory over Kasparov in a full-fledged match will make him No 1. Little wonder then, he is looking seriously at the possibility of another face-off.For close to five years, Anand has been singled out as the `Man who will be King,' but twice he has faltered at the final step. ``But you always learn from your mistakes,'' he said.World No 2 and acknowledged by all, including the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Geet Sethi and Leander Paes, as one of the best sportspersons India has ever produced, Anand is still somewhat of untapped commodity in Indian commercial market. For someone who is so big internationally, it doescome as a surprise that his signing up with NIIT is probably his first major commercial deal.
