Destined to go far

Anand was destined to go far: Alexey Dreev
Rakesh Rao
NEW DELHI, May 13, 2010

Viswanathan Anand’s long journey to four world chess titles began with a small step. It started in January 1991 at Chennai and the man who stood between Anand and a place in the quarterfinals was Russian Alexey Dreev.

Anand’s resounding victory in the best-of-eight game match is still remembered for the mature way in which the debutant Indian handled the pressures of a match, that too, while playing at home. Even when the two met again at Moscow, in the 2001 World championship pre-quarterfinals, Anand came out superior.

After Anand stopped Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov to retain the title on Monday, Dreev was least surprised at the verdict. At Ghaziabad, as the top seed of the on-going Commonwealth championship, Dreev said, “I always expected Anand to win because he is a tricky player. Anand has the match experience and the way he beat Vladimir Kramnik in the last world title match (in 2008), he was my obvious favourite. When we played in 1991, I knew he was very talented and destined to go far. Since then, Anand has become a very strong player. MEven from our junior days, I’ve admired his understanding of the game.”

Incidentally, the day Anand tamed Dreev, Dibyendu Barua became the country’s second Grandmaster. Barua, the country’s first child prodigy who promised what Anand eventually went on to achieve, was equally elated to watch old friend toppling Topalov.

Right approach

“I think, the experience and temperament of Anand made the difference. Considering Topalov’s attacking style, Anand’s approach was just right. Anand bounced back from the defeat in the opening game and then took the lead. He also defended well in the second half. In the final game, Anand’s choice of opening gave him the psychological edge. And when it mattered, Anand held his nerves.”

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