An evening with Anand

July 16 2005.

Probably the most memorable date in my life for sporting reasons as my love for chess attained a new moment of glory. 'Vidyasagar' conducted a Simul Exhibition with Vishwanathan Anand for raising funds for their school and I was one of the lucky few to be present there and play with the super GM himself. Reaching that date was quite messy for me as I didnt even have 24 hours notice to prepare. I reached Chennai in a hurry and got ready to meet him. In the process I travelled half way to the hall without my invitation, came back home, picked it up and went back again.

I rehearsed a lot in my mind to talk to Anand because obviously if I get to speak a few sentences I should consider myself lucky. By 7 pm Anand had arrived and to my surprise, he was completely the opposite. He was so unassuming and so approachable. He first came in and began the 10 games he was playing simultaneously on the internet with some strong players(unlike me). And he also answered the PRESS. Meanwhile he started playing with children.

Then there came the chance for the audience to ask questions. As usual the chess illiterate public began with stupid questions such as "whats your most favourite chess piece"(the most irritating question one could ever ask a chess player)...Then one sensible chap asked him about his new academy and Anand explained his plans. A couple of brits had come there as well and one asked him which is his favourite food - Paella or Biriyani (given that Anand lives in Spain)..Anand smiled and said he loves both. Then my turn came and I asked him about the "legend vs Amateur" tourney of 1987 and his experience with the world champions that he beat at such a young age. Anand was thrilled and spoke about the tourney in length. He had defeated Spassky, Tal, Larssen and drew with Smyslov.

By that time, he accepted a draw on the internet to our surprise as me and my colleague could find a win for him. So we reluctantly approached him and asked him if he wouldn't mind, could he explain why he didnt play the winning combo we had spotted. He had a look and called us on stage. I was thinking he is gonna deny that and explain with a few high sounding technical terms and rule out a win. But again to my surprise, he called us on stage and said "I am a bit ashamed to say that I overlooked the win. But anyways, draw is a good result and after all the player would be proud for his life" By then he had completely floored me with his conduct.

Then came my turn to play against him. I played Anand's fav opening, the Petrov. He was kinda anticipating it and reacted with a smile and said "Petrov, Petrov, Petrov everywhere" And played with such unimaginable ease. His pieces were doing a ballet on the board when mine were limping. By move 24, I offered a draw and he smiled and with a Rama like air said "if in another five moves, if you still feel there is a draw, then I will agree". And by the end of those five moves, he had a mate in 8 or 9 moves which he explained but I didn't understand. All I understood was that I am in a bad shape and there is no way I could save my honour. So I resigned but with the satisfaction of lasting 29 moves.

By then it was approaching mid night. Most of them left and a few crazy ones where still around him. He then joined us for dinner and spoke in length about a lot of things. He instantly recalls the moves and analyses any of his games that u recall. For example, when I asked about the Famous Corus 2004 drawn game with Kramnik (it was a masterpiece from Anand pulling of a magnificient repetition draw from a dead lost position), he coolly shrugged off any greatness in that game. He said as Kramnik was closing in on his king, he just started sacrificing his pieces and suddenly the repetition glared at their faces. And during dinner, he told that the right answer for earlier question of "paella or biriyani" would be curd rice. He was eating only curd rice and nothing else. Then he posed with us for some snaps and then left for the day. It was a memorable day with such a great champ, in my humble opinion, the greatest sportsman India has produced. He is the world number one now and he deserves every bit of it. May he win in Mexico and silence his critics. God bless that Anand and this Anand as well.. :)