Vishwanathan Anand - harbinger of optimism

Vishwanathan Anand

For a sport, which has produced only a handful of world champions throughout its long history of almost 1500 years, we are proud as a nation to have produced Vishwanathan Anand. He is the one who brought the Chess supremacy back to its indegenous home – its country of origin.

The game which commenced as a pastime for Indian royalty was a testimony of the might of the Indian brain. From the royal boardrooms, this board-game spread to the rest of the world and developed significantly in the 20th century. The hub of these developments had shifted to the Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe, and the world had no reply to their mastery over the board. But we had one. We had a “lightning kid” who brought us back into believing in our mental might. He checkmated his mates en route becoming the world champion 5 times ; and being the undisputed world champion for last 6 years.

Today, Chess is played in over 150 countries and Anand has done wonders, being our flag bearer for the last two and a half decades. For a country of 1.2 billion, we have always been in a dearth of world beaters. Amidst such a scenario, Anand provided us the much needed optimism that we can be the best. In spite of being such a prevalent sport worldwide, Chess has never recieved the kind of coverage as some other “attractive” sports. This is primarily due to the difficulty in marketing Chess and the complications in the game itself, which makes it aloof from the viewers. Well, that itself shows the amount of motivation in Anand – that he persistently performs at the highest level despite the blatant lack of adulation and recognition.

One aspect of Chess which is generally ignored is the the sheer physical demands of playing the game for hours in a sitting position. Add to that, the tremendous mental pressure and it makes it one of the most exhaustive games in the world.

Meanwhile, it is heartening to see the wide coverage for the on-going World Chess Championship in Chennai. It is the ‘passing of baton’ kind of a moment in the Chess fraternity. Anand seems to be losing his grip on the title and very soon we may have a new world champion in Magnus Carlsen, who is characterised by his audacious and enterprising style of play.

The country will again be in the search of a world beater, and we are waiting for the next Vishwanathan Anand. Or will Vishy come back and bring the title home, again in the future, to its original abode ? We have to wait and watch. I am optimistic.