Spain's adopted son and Indian chess champ Viswanathan Anand will root for his second home tonight

Checkmate them, Spain

Spain's adopted son and Indian chess champ Viswanathan Anand will root for his second home tonight

World chess champion Viswanathan Anand is all for a Spain reign as the country takes on Netherlands in the World Cup football final tonight in South Africa. Collado Mediano, a small Spanish town that lies about 50 km from Madrid has been Anand's second home for 15 years. Adopted as the 'Hijo Predelicto' (famous son) by the town people, his photographs adorn the walls of several shops.

Anand is rooting for Spain but he could have been cheering for the Dutch too. In 1995, Anand had decided to settle in the Netherlands since travel to Europe from India for tournaments sapped him of vital energy, time and expense. At that time, chess enthusiasts from Collado Mediano laid out a red carpet welcome for him, and he decided to set up home in Spain instead. Anand, a bachelor then, was warmed with offersu00a0like that of a local baker suggesting he cook for Anand before tournaments.

Currently in Chennai, the Indian chess wizard says, "Spain has been pretty impressive, despite losing their first Group game to Brazil. I too had suffered a shocking defeat against Veselin Topalov in the very first round of the World Chess Championship at Sofia, but then went on to win the event."

Anand says teamwork is Spain's biggest strength. "There's tremendous understanding between the Spanish players. They blend like well-oiled machinery. Excellent passing, impressive mid-fielders with flashes of brilliance, make them a formidable team. David Villa is the most impressive player and so is Andres Iniesta."

Football vs Chess
Though chess and football have obvious differences, they can be deceptively similar. Anand explains, "Just like in a team game like football, in chess too all the pieces on the board have to combine and co-ordinate. The dangerous players have been studied and marked in advance in football, while in chess it is the serious and intense home preparation, which blunts an attack or aids, barges into enemy territory. In both games, it is a fight for space, speed and control."u00a0

Spain roots for Vishy too
This jewel in India's sporting crown is the adopted son of Spain. Anand was touched when the mayor and people from the town received him at the airport after he returned to Madrid after winning his first World title in 2000. The Government of Lanzarote in Spain had conferred the Jameo de Oro (given to illustrious personalities with extraordinary achievements), the highest civilian award for foreigners, on Anand in 2001. Anand was the third recipient of this honour after Jose Saramago, the Nobel Prize winner for literature, and Cesar Manrique, the famous architect.