In Spain, Viswanathan Anand is considered the son of the soil because he has settled there and he speaks good Spanish. In Mexico, where people speak Spanish, Anand was accorded a noisy reception when he completed his World championship assignment on Saturday night successfully with a one-point lead over the rest of the field.“The response of the 500-odd people who chanted Anand.Anand after the event was overwhelming,” said Aruna, Anand’s wife and manager. “It was as though he had won a football match. And he spoke to them in Spanish for 30 minutes,” she added.Anand himself was yet to gather his thoughts as The Indian Express caught up with him for a telephonic interview from his hotel room at Sheraton in Mexico City soon after his triumph in the early hours of Sunday (Saturday night in Mexico). “This victory is as sweet as my first World title in Tehran,” said the World champion. “I am yet to collect my thoughts together on what I should do,” said Anand to a question where he needs to improve in his chess. “Maybe, when I go back and find time, I will know,” he said as an afterthought.From Mexico, he will be going to play in a European Club tournament in Turkey in October for his club, Badenoos (Germany). Anand is due to get 12 to 15 FIDE rating points from his victory in Mexico, which will catapult him to the 2,800-mark again. As he is not likely to play any big events in the next three months, Anand will be on 2800 in the January 2008 list. Anand has been working with Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmak since 2001 in his preparations. “Nielsen did a good job here,” Anand added.
