Opinion For the federation,draw is a point lost

Competition is at the core of sport and it is understandable that fans expect a result.

November 15, 2013 03:02 AM IST First published on: Nov 15, 2013 at 03:02 AM IST

The first four games of the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen have ended in draws and already there are murmurs that this is not really good for the game.

When a game ends in a draw,are spectators disappointed? The question may never be answered satisfactorily,mainly because each fan engages with his/her sport uniquely. Competition is at the core of sport and it is understandable that fans (perhaps even the majority) expect a result. I do not consider myself a sports nut but have caught myself indulging in the occasional scarily intense celebration when a favourite team scores a last-minute winner. Spending days in a funk on the back of a terrible loss (yours,your teams,whats the difference?),cutting yourself off from football-related news and avoiding friends who support a rival club is a part of the fan experience too.

Agreed,draws deprive most fans of this type of acute engagement with the sport but on most days we are OK with,even prepared for,anything in between. Then again,there are draws and there are draws. Also,there is the high-brow argument that the connoisseur derives a more mellow pleasure from the game itself,not so much from the mundane detail of the identity of the winner and the loser.

Seeing as there is no prescribed way to invest ones emotions,there is no way to settle this debate,but the assumption that it is purely the nature of the spectators involvement with the sport that determines what is considered the preferable outcome,is exceedingly naive.

The good of the game seldom concerns the fan or the game itself,but the men who invest more than just their emotions in it. A sport cannot survive without sponsors,television revenues and corporate backing.

In the championship match in Chennai,there has been a six-hour draw and a 67-minute draw. There have been fighting draws and over-cautious ones. Still,with the cash-strapped sport (read the federation) straining to milk its Fischer-Spassky moment,another couple of draws will be two draws too many.

(Raakesh is a principal correspondent based in New Delhi)

raakesh.natraj@expressindia.com