Learning is an ongoing process

MUMBAI: At 41, Vishwanathan Anand has to keep up with a lot. A whole breed of chess players who’ve learned the game from computers. Opponents who often call him ‘uncle’ before building fierce attacks on the board. And 20-year-old prodigies like Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, with whom he’s in constant battle for the world No. 1 ranking.

If that isn’t enough, the reigning world champion, who’s virtually patented the term ‘whiz kid’, now ironically has to battle the ravages of middle age. Life in the 40s, Anand knows, is challenging.

“I’ve been called ‘uncle’ sometimes! It’s amusing but what’s interesting is that the sport of chess is getting younger. I understand that I have to work hard to keep up with all these youngsters,” he says. “There are new and incredible talents from everywhere. In the current candidates, we have people like Aronian (Levon), Carlsen (Magnus). That makes for a very interesting scene at the top. You know how easy it is for one of those guys to pull ahead of you, so you give it your all in every tournament.” Even though the squares on the chessboard remain a constant at 64, Anand knows the game is constantly evolving. “You have to ride those changes, new approaches, new ways of playing the game. If you are enthusiastic and keen to learn, that’s the main thing,” he says.

But to keep trying to learn new tricks in a game that has long acknowledged him as one of the greats, isn’t that easy. The Indian Grandmaster’s formula to keep complacency at bay is pretty simple. He doesn’t believe in living by a check-list. “It’s not like I have to tick items off it. The idea is still to win every competition I take part in. At a very basic level, if you don’t do very well, it bugs you.”

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar