Chess champ Vishy says World Championship title has made him hungrier
India’s chess legend Viswanathan Anand yesterday ruled out any possibility of retirement and said winning the fifth World title has given him the boost to carry on as long as he enjoys the game.
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Viswanathan Anand during a media briefing in Chennai yesterday. Pic/AFP
In his first interaction with the Indian media, during a felicitation ceremony organised by his sponsor NIIT, after returning at home from Moscow, Anand said he is still enjoying his game and the win over Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand in the World Championship meant a lot for him.
“There are definitely no thoughts of retirement. In fact, quite the opposite. (Winning a fifth world title) has been a huge boost to my morale. As long as I enjoy, I don’t see any reason to retire. Winning in Moscow meant a lot emotionally. It’s not only about records. It’s just that you hate losing and you love winning. I am looking forward to playing chess and winning tournaments,” Anand said.
Asked what the fifth world title meant for him, Anand said: “For me, the number has been irrelevant. Every title defence is special. I simply want to enjoy playing chess. There is no checklist.”
Meeting Putin
Anand said his interaction with Russian president Vladimir Putin, after winning the title, was witty. Putin during the meeting remarked ‘so, we brought this on ourselves’ when the Indian told him how developed his game while training at the Russian Culture Centre.
“Well we laughed because I thought it was a witty line. The meeting was almost half an hour. He is very knowledgeable about chess. He spoke about how chess is important in Russian culture. He was generally very gracious. I thought that was a quick one,” he recalled.
On his preparations leading up to the match, Anand said: “My training was from January 15 to April 15. This time my preparation was very intensive because I did not have a camp. Last year I was busy playing tournaments.
“We worked very hard and developed some thoughts. I had several systems prepared with black and white. You always had to start with something new. I knew Gelfand since 1989 and always thought he was very professional and disciplined chess player.
“With the white pieces, he managed to steer clear of our dangerous ideas. This reflected how seriously he was taking the match. It was only in game 11 and 12 that we were able to break out a bit,” he said.
Anand also said that whether he caught Gelfand by surprise he reacted aggressively. “I was excited about what was to come. I thought I could put him under pressure. The turning point happened very quickly. He made some wrong moves and I was very happy that I could get back into the match. I cannot emphasise how important this moment was,” Anand said.
Praising Gelfand, Anand said: “We both felt genuine respect for each other. I am really happy to have retained my title. Now I can really relax and enjoy this.”
Dig at Kasparov
Anand hit out at his former bitter rival Gary Kasparov, saying the Russian wizard has been trying since 2011 to get him to retire. Anand feels Kasparov, who retired in 2005, misses the attention he got during his playing days. “We were asked about his remarks. He is the man who regrets leaving chess. He misses the attention he got in chess, somehow wants to be there. May be he should play again,” Anand said.u00a0“Kasparov retired in 2005, he has been trying to make me retire since 2011. You just have to develop a thick skin as a public figure,” he said.u00a0Kasparov before the World Championship said that the Indian lacked motivation and was “sliding downhill”. u00a0
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