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Viswanathan on top of the world

By T.N. Raghu

Viswanathan Ana-nd is on top of the world, again. The Indian Super GM has retained the world chess title after beating Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik 6.5-4.5 in Bonn, Germany. There were doubts in same quarters about the 39-year-old Indian’s mental makeup and resilience after Kramnik won the 10th game. But Anand showed no nerves in the end as he sealed his third world title with a draw in 24 moves.

The Chennai star won his first world crown in 2000 and his second last year. Incidentally, Kramnik finished second behind Anand in the 2007 World Championship, which was played in a tournament format. Had Kramnik managed a win on Wednesday, the title race in all probability would have gone down to the wire because the Russian would have started with white in game 12. Anand, however, saved his fans’ fingernails with a calm display over 64 squares. Credit should be given to Kramnik for injecting life into the biggest showdown between two classy players in recent memory.

His campaign appeared doomed after Anand had raced to a 4.5-1.5 lead midway through the championship. Not for nothing, Kramnik was accorded a place in the Russian "K" troika, also comprising Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov and Anand, the line-up of greatest champions in contemporary chess is complete after the Indian edged Kramnik.

After a sedate start, Anand picked up steam, à la Usain Bolt, midway to silence pundits who had questioned his record in match play against a top player. The Chennai superstar is now the only world champion with success in every possible format — knockout (2000), round-robin tournament (2007)and match play (2008). Not that Anand needed endorsement from the cognoscenti before getting a place in the pantheon of chess greats. His sparkling CV will speak for itself. A slew of titles in key events across the globe in more than two decades and five chess Oscars are proof enough that Anand is past the evaluation stage. Yet, there had been a lingering yearning among his fans for a majestic performance in match play.

Anand has buried his match play demons in style. The Indian, without a shadow of doubt, is the most complete player in the history of chess. With a brain ticking ever so meticulously, Anand has few peers in shorter and speedier formats of the game such as blitz and blindfold. His dominance was not so complete in classical chess under time control.

Anand has now delivered on that front as well to stake his claim for the greatest-ever honour. Admittedly, the snappier formats of chess had not evolved much in Fischer’s time. But it’s a fair bet that the Indian would have blitzed any one from any era if quick thinking were to be the primary quality. To borrow from Ashish Nandy’s Tao of Cricket, chess is a Russian game accidentally invented by Indians.

The roll of honour in world championship is littered with Russian names since 1930s. After Fischer, the chess world has not seen a dominant non-Russian player like Anand. It was only fitting that Anand defeated one from the fabled chess country to win his latest crown. Beating a Russian in chess is akin to putting it across Brazil to win a football title.

What has endeared Anand to fans cutting across nationalities all over the world is his impeccable demeanour on and off the playing arena. The Indian has achieved what he has till date without a scent of a scandal. Chess at the top level is comparable to heavyweight boxing without punches. For Russians, a World Championship is a veritable ego trip.

Even when Kramnik started the mindgame a few months ago, the Indian remained serene, as always. Anand has interest in a wide range of subjects including astronomy and history. He is obsessive about telescopes. A big fan of history, Anand loves William Dalrymple’s seminal work, The Last Mughal.

According to his father Viswanathan, the chess champion doesn’t do anything superficially. In an interactive session in the city after his world title last year, the Super GM held forth on subjects ranging from chess player’s excellence in poker and stock brokering, thanks to their speculative ability to an ancient Chinese game resembling chess.

Anand’s perspective and worldview helps him to keep his feet on the ground even after a triumph of great significance. Magnus Carlsen of Norway may be the new kid on the block in world chess, but there is no doubt about Kramnik’s class.

Kramnik is the last of the "K" troika from Russia. And he is now the proud torchbearer of his country’s enviable chess tradition. With a proud record of being the last player to beat Garry Kasparov in match play in 2000, Kramnik started his series against Anand as a slight favourite. His record in match play is indeed impressive.

After Kasparov, he had accounted for Peter Leko (2004), Vaselin Topalov (2006) for two more world titles. Having belittled the Indian’s previous world titles by saying "Anand just won two events that were called the World Championships," Kramnik heaped pressure on himself before the Bonn series. In the end, the Russian’s words came back to haunt him as Anand defended his title with aplomb.

For the record, before the game three at Bonn, Kramnik had not lost to Anand with white pieces in 11 years. International Master P. Konguvel says Anand’s sustained success "is an amazing story". "Anand won his first major international title, the World Junior Championship, in 1987. He has been playing competitive chess from four years prior to that win. From 1988, the year in which he became a GM, Anand has maintained his status as one of the top players in the world. It has been a wonderful ride for him. I would say his dedication has made him what he is today," he adds.

All professional players, the Chennai-based IM says, must have their passion for the game intact to maintain consistency. "It’s not easy to play chess at this level for 25 years and be at the top rung. Thanks to his discipline, Anand has done that to stand out from his peers. The key is his love for the game. I don’t think playing chess will ever get taxing for Anand because he enjoys doing that. Sustained excellence is not easy in chess. Anand’s track record over the years is enviable," he explains.