Vladimir Kramnik [who has a thing about Topalov]. Garry Kasparov [who would like nothing better than a 2012 title fight between Anand and the current world number one]. Magnus Carlsen [said current world number one, and the logical contender for the title]. An array of past and future champions rallying behind Vishy Anand during the recent FIDE world chess championship title fight against Topalov.
Tempted to post clips — but this interview with Vishy deserves to be read in full. Go read.
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I have a naive question.. so Anand is the world champion 2 times in a row, but not the world # 1 (Carlsen?).. what;s up with that? Is it like soccer, you can have a world champion, but world #1 accounts for all games?
Thank you .. Very awesome link, Prem.. Anand is a complete champion.. several of our sportsmen can learn a lot from his preparation, tenacity and simpleness despite incredible level of talent (very rare to see all these .. only Sachin and Kapil come to mind, who exemplified similar traits) ..
Simply love the guy and proud to have a real champ in India.. unlike the demigods of cricket 🙂
Excellent interview. Hard to imagine the extent of preparation that is required. Congratulations to Anand. He has been one of my favorite sports persons.
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Yes I read that one – very interesting. I remember an interview by Anand’s mom about how rude Garry was et al during their match – but here he and a host of other ‘rivals’ were helping him… very nice. Here is the second part http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6348
Brilliant..thanks Prem for all the chess links; this is unprecedented and unbelievable..probably because of the person Anand is ; nice , friendly fellow ; also rather strange tactics used by Topalav like non postponement of matches, accusing Kramnik of cheating led to an overwhelming support amongst GM’s for Vishy
Magnus Carlsen is shaping out to be a real talent. With the backing of Gary Kasparov, I think he may even surpass his master. Elo of 2800+ at age of 19 is no joke. I for one is highly rooting for 2012 Anand-Carlsen match. Vishy would be 42 by then, so he’d really have to dig out his energy from deep down, but hey 42 is a magic number.
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I thot that Garry, was arrogant, rude and would never share his knowledge/insights with anyone…or he did so now cos he is no longer actively playing. Quite surprised to know he was actively involved in the match.
Thanks a lot for sharing this article, Prem.
Wonderful insights into the kind of preparations for a Championship defence, the various mindsets that Anand goes through. Even in his interviews, he sounds so simple and straight – One amazing champ he is !!