Viswanathan Anand thanks Vladimir Kramnik for urging him to play
Susan Ninan, TNN | Mar 30, 2014, 11.56 PM IST
CHENNAI: There was a quiet sense of accomplishment as Viswanathan Anand brokered peace with Peter Svidler in their Candidates final round encounter at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia on Sunday.
Not that the result would have altered the final standings as Anand had already earned a rematch with reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, but the Indian was keen to keep his slate clean. The draw left him 8.5 points, one point clear of second-placed Segey Karjakin.
“Last night (Saturday) was easily the one with least sleep, at least as far as pre-match days are concerned,” the Indian said following Sunday’s game.
“I woke up at 6 am. It was quite turbulent. One must decide what one is aiming and playing for. It’s easy to drift and a loss can always leave a bad taste in the mouth.” Anand has won many tournaments before, but this one meant a lot.
“I liked all my wins. My first-ever win against Aronian with white was impressive and I was also happy with the way I played against Topalov. The one that I agreed for a draw with Dmitry (Andreikin) though I felt I could have done slightly differently.”
There was a time last year when Anand was not sure whether he would be playing the Candidates. It was his long-time rival Kramnik who urged him to take part in the tournament.
“During the Chess Classic in London in January, Kramnik lost one of those bad games against Hikaru and we went for dinner so that he could feel better. But it turned the other way round. He was trying to cheer me up and was persuasive about me playing Candidates.”
With the venue of this year’s title match yet to be decided, the obvious poser to the challenger was his preferred location.
“Maybe it would eventually come down to where I ended up winning. Obviously, there’s little sense in playing in an idyllic setting and doing badly. Like what happened in Chennai for instance (where he lost to Carlsen without winning a game). The location doesn’t matter as long as I feel good about my game.”
On his apparent weight loss and fitness regime in a bid to play better, Anand said: “That’s what all the medical evidence says. It’s sensible to exercise, not just for matches, even otherwise.”
So is he tired of playing in world title matches? The indefatigable Anand paused before saying “no”, drawing laughter from the gathering.
Final standings: Anand 8.5 points, Sergey Karjakin 7.5 points, Vladimir Kramnik 7 points, Dmitry Andreikin 7, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 7, Peter Svidler 6.5 points, Levon Aronian 6.5 points, Veselin Topalov 6 points.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Class act.
The Dirty Tricks Team of Topalov and Danialov need to learn. Look at the relationship Anand has with Kramnik, Gelfand and Carlsen. The ‘WC point stealer’ Topa had the dubious distinction of wooden spoon and Danialov was there to watch it..
Nakamura sucks. Hes avoiding the good players.
It’s always refreshing when one observes such friendship between two rivals. Anand – Kramnik is a model. Now I feel that in Kramnik – Topalov , the fault must be with Topalov as otherwise Kramnik would have fought with every other guy too
Kramnik is not that nice. He made fun of Anand before their WC match and claimed he lent his title to Anand. But Anand acted like a gentleman, waited, and soundly thrashed him. So give credit to Anand for the “good relationship” with Kramnik.
Kramnik is also had/has a bitter relationship with Kasparov, Nakamura, Topalov, and Shirov.
About 20% to 25% of the food we eat is used by our brain. And the brain works as the single organ which has to maintain body temperature, muscular coordination, control of senses, maintenance of nervous system and innumerable other functions that are not in our conscious control. Apart from all that, the brain has to think on different cognitive levels, and higher the cognitive level, greater the stress while the usage of energy remains almost same throughout.
Thus, when we maintain a healthy body, it becomes much easier for the brain, as a single organ, to maintain bodily functions and use greater part of the energy to focus on conscious – cognitive functions. This is the basic reason why the younger players are able to handle stress for longer duration than are older players, because in chess the brain’s cognitive function is at highest level for 5-6 hours at a stretch.
So Anand is very right in keeping a healthy (would help even more if he maintained a slightly lighter, sporty body) and balanced body. If his health were to fail, the level of cognition will not go down, but the duration for which he can maintain that level will be considerably reduced.
Patrick.