TITLE TWO SWEET

Anand had been an 8220;amazing8221; GM then, experts would say, somewhat green for the rough and tumble of a hugely egoistic Kasparov, but definitely not a pushover. Graduating to becoming India8217;s first Grandmaster in 1987, he held his patience, measured his strides and remained focused. The fruits have come, twice over.

It8217;s been a while for Anand, there are greenhorns today challenging his supremacy, and things are coming full circle, so to say. 8220;You know, John Nunn English mathematician, Grandmaster, and once among the world8217;s top ten, senior in age to Anand once told me 8216;you need to beat these prodigies more than once in the early stages, that8217;s how they remember you, or they get onto you8217;,8221; says Anand. 8220;I took that advice seriously and I have tried to not let the kids off too easily.8221; But they keep coming back, more of them, each smarter than the previous one. One day, knows Anand, one day.

But till that day, Anand is the undisputed world champion, one of only four to have broken the 2800 Elo rating mark 8212; others, of course, are Kasparov now removed from the rating list, because he has been inactive for a good length of time, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria 8212; and one who has been among the top three in classical time control chess since 1997.

Chess isn8217;t all sport, it teaches you to live, to make the right choices, 8220;to be able to make the right decisions in academics, and in every sphere of life, and to be focused.8221; It8217;s not Anand8217;s philosophy, but the plinth on which the game was built. There is an Indian version of the game 8212; there should be, the game was invented here 8212; where the moves are a trifle different from international standards, starting from the opening to the respective strengths of the Queen, but it is a time-consuming affair. 8220;There is the need to spread the game deeper into the the country, a generally chess-literate country, and one can see the international version ingrained into soft, green minds. That8217;ll be a huge base,8221; he says. 8220;It will help the all-round growth of the child, and give us more champions too.8221;

That8217;s the perspective. It8217;s not just about a soaring Sensex, or a trillion-dollar economy, or a BPO and pharma boom, or a Twenty20 World Cup that leads to a one-day series surrender at home. It8217;s about foresight, about consistency. It8217;s about somebody who dares to beat the world twice over, yet remains humble enough to gently smile about the 8220;advice8221; that one kid gives him at a simultaneous chess show.

8220;Actually, he is a person easy to get along with,8221; says Aruna. Except, sometimes when he is deep into his tournament mood. 8220;She knows how to handle me then, my moods. She gives me advice, knowing well I probably won8217;t be listening, but then she8217;d give it anyway. Sometimes they are good, like in Mexico City this time, she asked me not to hurry with my moves, and I did. I remembered what she said after the 40th move, I guess. By then it was a bit late.8221;

Anand is acknowledged to be the world8217;s best rapid chess player.
So what are champions made of? How is a great player better than a very good one? What is the key? 8220;Passion, I guess. You need to have a passion for what you do; to love it enough. You can8217;t move to the obsessive phase, though, because that8217;ll kill the love, that8217;ll be negative energy.8221; There is this thin line, and when you8217;ve identified it, you, with enough love in your heart, can be an Anand. Anand thinks so.

Then there is humility: of acknowledging talent, big challenges, possibly better players. Sandipan Chanda, from Kolkata, is one of the newline Grandmasters of the country. Ahead of the world championship, Anand would interact with him on a regular basis 8212; 8220;With the Internet, it8217;s become so easy,8221; says Anand. Chanda isn8217;t the best in the country 8212; P Harikrishna and K Sasikiran are the stronger horses, pushing through 2700 8212; but Anand found gold. 8220;It8217;s always better to have dialogue with all. You never know what idea comes from where. In fact, I used one of Sandipan8217;s ideas against Boris Gelfand at the world championship, and it worked.8221;

Logically speaking, an open mind should only be logical. But in life you don8217;t always stay that way. There are areas grey inside the head that interfere, tell you to blow your nose noisily in public, carry an irritating smirk around. Probably that8217;s where the focus is shifting. 8220;I have the hunger, still, and I8217;ll play as long that lasts,8221; he clarifies. That8217;s what keeps his head clear of politics. 8220;No politics for me. And if I get to meet Kasparov again, I8217;d probably tell him to be back in battles less dangerous physically than his current preoccupation.8221;

There is a head-scratching poser there. Are we talking about a perfect human being? Not quite. It has been a long enough journey, a threading through the politics of FIDE and the All India Chess Federation, of disappointments extending to earning a world title and then being told it wasn8217;t enough, because Kramnik held the classical title anyway, of being at the wrong end of Kasparov8217;s characteristically uncharitable emotions, and in having to move away from Chennai and set up home in Madrid. It8217;s been an eventful while for Anand. 8220;Looking ahead I see more titles, more achievements, and more Indian children in the forefront of the sport.8221;

Life teaches a good deal of excellent moves, after all.