New Delhi: Viswanathan Anand doesn't want
the world, Veselin Topalov to be precise, to know how he is
planning his title defence in next year's World Chess
Championship and remained tightlipped about his team of
seconds.
Keeping his cards close to his chest, the otherwise
genial orator refused to succumb to queries on his support
staff, letting out just one name.
"I can tell you the name of (Peter Heine) Nielsen (of
Denmark) but would not name anybody else," Anand said with an
impish smile.
"And even if I give it, my opponent would not believe
it," quipped the Indian who became world champion in 2007 and
successfully defended the title next year, beating Russian
Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany.
Once again, the affable Indian will defend his title in
Sophia, Bulgaria from April 5 next year over a 12-game contest
with local favourite Topalov.
Asked if going into the contest as the title holder is
tougher than being the challenger, Anand said, "There is not
much of a difference between a defender and a challenger.”
"As the holder, you no longer have the advantage of
retaining the title with a draw. Once you start playing, these
things become secondary," he explained.
Asked about his preparation, Anand did not share anything
specific but said he was leaving no stone unturned to give him
the best chance of defending the title.
"I'm doing a lot of preparations, very similar to what I
did before Bonn. I'm working intensely with my team. When the
world is focussing only on you, you have to look at your game
very thoroughly. You don't have that kind of introspection
before every other.”
"I'm doing hell lot of works. For events, there is Corus
in January, followed by a couple of tournaments and then the
Championship itself," he said.
The Indian was fine with the 12-game format, which he
found ideal.
"I think 12 is an ideal number. Longer than that and it's
not an ideal event in modern times. You cannot have battles
spanning over three-four months anymore.”
"I think 12 is a good mix of determining who the real
champion is and at the same time, making it interesting for
the fans," he said.
Anand has not been at his best this year but the Indian
insisted he could not be accused of not giving his best.
"You have to give credits to your colleagues who did
well. It's not a question of not trying enough. It's not that
I played one or two notches below my level. I tried all kind.
I have definitely noticed some of the problems that had arisen
and will try to fix them.”
"Chess has a lot of depth nowadays and it's tough if you
want to win each and every tournament. It's just not going to
happen. This year, my rivals have played better," he said.
Anand was here to give away prizes to the winners of the
north zone finals of the Chess Master 2009, the annual
competition of the NIIT MindChampions Academy, at a city
school.
Talking about chess in India, Anand hoped the Academy,
which has already brought 8,50,000 students from 7500 schools
under its umbrella, would help to broad-base the game.
"My dream is to spread chess to the every corner of the
country. We have the traditional strongholds in the south,”
West Bengal and Maharashtra but we did not get beyond that.
"Through this initiative, we are reaching new areas in
states like Punjab and Haryana," he said.
"Various surveys have revealed the link between chess and
academic excellence. This time we took feedback from around
8000 students who said chess helped them improve their science
and mathematics, which gives me confidence.”
"We are looking at big numbers, like one million, two
millions, five millions...and if even a small portion of that
becomes champions, it would be worth it. Chess not only helps
your maths and science, trust me, it's a lot of fun as well,"
Anand told the students.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 15:16