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I love the game says Anand

World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand has once again proved that he is one of the legends of the game.

  • By D. Datta, Special to Gulf News
  • Published: 22:40 December 20, 2008
  • Gulf News

Chennai: World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand has once again proved that he is one of the legends of the game.

After winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, he has climbed to the pinnacle of glory through a sterling performance against the world's finest chess players of the era.

Anand became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and in this year he defended his title against Vladmir Kramnik.

He is one of four players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He clinched the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008.

Anand is in Chennai, holidaying after an eventful year. Despite being busy with functions he took time off to speak about his future plans as well as other sports and sports stars.

Gulf News: You must be relieved now that you had earned a complete leave from the chess board for some months now?
V. Anand: Well, maybe that's true. I took a break from the game and will be back to play at Linares in coming February. What this break has done is, I am feeling the urge to get back to the board again and it grows by every passing day!

How did it feel to successfully defend your world champion title?
Obviously it feels great to be crowned the best in the world. But you have to work hard to defend it throughout the year, if possible in every tournament. I was over the moon, but soon came back to reality.

Are you still a Real Madrid fan?
Yes, obviously. Maybe because of my staying in Spain, I am in love with the club. And I try to follow soccer, too.

Then, who is your favourite soccer star?
Zinedine Zidane. I was fascinated by his ball–control, football–skills. You could even say that for him I became a Real Madrid fan. And I had seen matches in Bernabeau, followed Real's performances in the Champions League, too.

However, this year, Real is not having the best of times.
Yes, but they have the ability to bounce back any time and I am hopeful.

Any other sport or sporting star you like?
There are so many of them. I like tennis, Formula One. Earlier it was John McEnroe. Then to Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. I am a big fan of Fernando Alonso, too.

Do you follow other Indian stars' performances?
Why not? It was great to meet Mahendra Singh Dhoni the other day. I had followed India's fortunes in the ongoing Chennai test. And it gave me immense pleasure when I knew that Saina Nehwal had broken into the top ten in women's badminton ranking list.

Back to chess, you have won almost everything in chess, how do you motivate yourself now?
I love the game and that's all. I don't feel like thinking that way. I want to play as long as I am enjoying the game.

Although you are the world champion, are you happy with the progress chess has made in India?
Definitely. Our juniors are becoming world champions in age–group chess. There are some exciting players in Surya Sekhar and Shashikiran. Hari Krishna and Sandipan, too, are a lot improved.

Koneru Hampi is doing really well in women's chess. There are some six thousand chess schools in India now and we are working to make it ten thousand in coming years. So, I am happy.

You mentioned Surya Sekhar and he was a part of your second team in Bonn.
I must thank my seconds for the effort they have put in during the world championship match. Sometimes I used to go to their rooms at 10am and some of them had just gone to sleep at 8am after their night–long work.

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