The Hindu : Sport / Chess : My reputation precedes me: Anand

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Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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My reputation precedes me: Anand

Rakesh Rao

His relentless pursuit to redefine excellence places him among top champions

NEW DELHI: The relentless pursuit to redefine excellence has placed Viswanathan Anand among the select global champions who have transcended the barriers deemed unreachable by the lesser mortals.

Anand has won every title in the classical version of chess on way to the World No. 1 spot. For some time now, he is busy reinforcing the belief that he is indeed the most successful rapid chess player ever. In fact, Anand’s expertise in the shortened version is beyond debate.

Consistent

The chess world witnesses several mega rapid events every season. If you check out the role of honour, whether at Monaco, Leon, Mainz or Corsica, Anand’s consistency will stand out.

Once a ‘lightening kid’, Anand continues to shine the brightest in the rapid version, the success rate being monumental.

By winning the World rapid championship for a 10th time and all seven times at Mainz, Germany, Anand has surpassed himself. And what more, the chess world is eagerly looking forward for more.

“Every year I come to the event and think may be this year it won’t go so well and in the end, I understand that my worries were all irrational,” says Anand as he looks back at his journey so far at Mainz and shares his thoughts with The Hindu.

Anand first played in the event held in Frankfurt in 1994, won four-player event in 1997 ahead of Anatoly Karpov, regained the title in 1998 by beating Vladimir Kramnik in another four-player field. But it was the triumph in 2000 when Anand won with a round to spare ahead of Gary Kasparov, Kramnik and Peter Leko among others in an eight-man field that Anand recalls with added pleasure.

Remarkable event

“The most remarkable event was of course the tournament in 2000 when I finished ahead by a point. The most entertaining match was the one against Judit (Polgar) where we played eight decisive games (in 2003). I would lose Game one and win Game two on the first three days,” remembered the champion who has virtually owned the title since the event moved to Mainz in 2001.

This year, too, it was not an easy affair. Three days earlier, Armenia’s Levon Aronian had come out stronger in Chess960 championship where Anand made his debut this year.

Anand’s eventual 2.5-1.5 victory in rapid chess looked comfortable but not so. After all, Anand did not give Aronian a chance to bounce back by winning the last game of the best-of-four final, thereby clinching the issue without needing the tiebreak games. “This year was one of the toughest challenges and Aronian’s talent for blitz and rapid chess is commensurate to his reputation of being one of the world’s best. So I didn’t think of myself as a favourite in the case of a tiebreak. Maybe in rapid chess, being Anand, my reputation precedes me,” was how Anand chose to put it.

Like a true champion, Anand gave Aronian the respect due to a worthy challenger. “Aronian is just one of the best players in the world. He is excellent in blitz and rapid. So I never really thought I was a favourite. Also since both of us will be playing in Mexico (in the up coming World Chess championship in September) there was some under-currents. We both didn’t want to give anything away. So it made it especially difficult to play the match. In the end, I was able to win with black and it seemed smooth.”

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