Focused Anand unaffected by Carlsen hype, confident of retaining World Title

Viswanathan Anand

There is one thing that World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has improved over the years, and we’re not talking about his chess this time. It’s Anand’s ability to block out the entire world and focus on the “task at hand” and the chess board. No wonder he’s been World Champion five times. Not for him the fire and brimstone of his colleagues. Not for him media hype that builds up to a crescendo, but the steady, calm and cool approach of a champion who wins with his mind.

While we were focused on the media and fan frenzy that greeted World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on his recent visit to inspect the World Chess Championship venue in Chennai, Viswanathan Anand has kept his head down and continued his training “at an undisclosed location” with a secret team.

Anand’s wife and manager told journalists, after venue inspection, that he is in “deep throes of training” with his seconds. “This is a preliminary inspection. We will make another visit two to three days prior to the championship,” she said.

Aruna also said Anand had been operating “out of Chennai for a reasonable length of time. He is neither looking back nor looking ahead. Specific chess problems occupy his mind now.”

Further, in an email interview to the New Indian Express, Anand has said, “We are just trying to cover as much ground as we can. Surely, the matches have taught me something. But each match for me is a new challenge. I close the chapter on the previous match and approach this as a new challenge.”

Anand said, “This is not the first time that I am playing a big event in India. Dreev, New Delhi and then World Cup were all big events that went well for me. I understand the pressure. In the end, only good moves will win the match so that’s the only thing I would want to think about since that’s what I can control.”

Viswanathan Anand told the Indian newspaper, he was confident of retaining his title. He said, “My team is made up of excellent people and I hope I can justify their faith and hard work they put in me.” As regards his “secret of winning big matches,” Anand says, “I try to just look at the game in hand. I don’t want to start analysing that now. At present, I am only thinking of Chennai 2013 and that’s what matters.”

Anand respects Carlsen’s talent and says, “He is a tenacious player. Lots of talent and extremely ambitious.”

After a recent Times Now report stating the Anand camp was not happy with the “illness clause” in the World Chess Championship contract, both Anand and Aruna have maintained that they would not like to discuss the clause. Anand said, “The contracts have been signed, I don’t want to dwell on it. I don’t doubt Carlsen’s integrity as a sportsperson and I am sure neither party will misuse it.”

Sources in the All India Chess Federation (AICF) said, “It’s obvious that all concerned want the match to take place. Why effort should not be made to ensure that everyone is satisfied and all is done in the best interests of the sport? We should focus on the positives of bringing such a big event to India instead of speculating about what the contract is. After all, neither of the players have signed the contract in duress. There is no need for such discussions.”

Carlsen’s Chennai visit has also gone un-noticed by the World Champion. “I am not aware of the details of his visit. I don’t follow chess news when I train. He has been at our home in Spain a few times and always enjoyed the food it seemed,” Anand said.

Throughout his career, the Indian chess prodigy has come across as someone calm, quiet, extremely level-headed and forever amiable. He prefers to speak through his chess. — Zainab Raza Undulusi