Vishy's December #12 - My Uncle, A World Chess Champion!
by Sagar Shah - 19/12/2019
In the Vishy's December series of articles celebrating his 50th birthday, we have articles from his friends, competitors, peers and rivals. Today we bring you stories from someone who is extremely close to Anand. Meet Siddharth Viswanathan, Anand's nephew. With nothing held back, Siddharth discusses some of the most intimate moments of Anand's life, which would only be known to a family member. This December, ChessBase India is celebrating the month as Vishy's December in honour of the Indian chess legend Vishy Anand turning 50 years old. If you have a story, experience or an anecdote related to Anand which you would like to share with the chess world, you can send it to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com.
The wittiest Chitappa
by Siddharth Viswanathan
We are sitting at the dinner table of a posh Mumbairestaurant. The time is somewhere during
the start of the newmillennium. He is cracking jokes with
his trademark wit. Hislaughter on the jokes ensures that we also
laugh along. Suddenly, oneperson comes to the table. "Can I have
your autograph?", the personasks. Yes, this took place much before the
time of selfies. With oneperson, others also made their way for an
opportunity to get hisautograph. He obliges them all. It is only
then I realise that I amactually sitting with a world champion.
That too in chess, a gamewhich was invented in India and which
fittingly, is being dominated byan Indian who scorched a revolutionary path
to success.
Anand almost always obliges to the requests of people wanting his autographs, right from a very young age!
That is the special ability of Viswanathan
Anand, the five-time worldchess champion who celebrated his golden
birthday on December 11. Hishumility and down-to-earth nature is the
prime reason that makes hispersonality as a world champion very
alluring. If you do not know how to playchess, a crash course in humility after
having achieved so much is alesson to take away from Anand. There have been
plenty of tributes toAnand from various publications and
journalists. Writing about Anandis like writing something new about Sachin
Tendulkar. It is a nightmare for writers as their achievements
have been chronicled someticulously.
Writing about Anand is a tough task for me.
In one publication, I wasaccused of conflict of interest just for
writing about him. Thus, eachtime I wrote about him, I had to write a
disclaimer below everyarticle. What is presented here are some of
the memorable moments thatI encountered in my journey with Anand, a
person whom I know reallyclosely.
Early Memories
What are my first memories of Vishy Anand,
the world chess championwho is also my uncle? The earliest photo
that I have of him is mesitting on my grandmother's lap and chewing
off his purse with himbeaming his million-dollar smile. At that
time, he had already madegiant strides and as I would later know he
would become the firstchess Grandmaster from India.
What were the first signs of Anand's
greatness in chess? For me, it wasReggio Emilia 1991. At that time, the
Soviet Union had notdisintegrated and the chess grandmasters
coming from that part of theglobe had established a new benchmark for
dominance. The first crackin the massive red wall of the Soviet Union
was when Anand haddefeated Garry Kasparov and drew with
Anatoly Karpov, two supergrandmasters at the height of their powers.
To have held Karpov, his'idol' in his playing years was legendary.
To have defeated Kasparovwas legendary beyind belief.Anand finished ahead of the two and won
Reggio Emilia. If the collapseof communism is credited with the fall of
the Berlin Wall in 1989,then Anand's feats at the Reggio Emilia ensured
that the Soviet Uniondominance in chess would end in the coming
decades.
The 22-year-old boy who broke the dominance of Soviet Union in chess
Lack of killer instinct, The Horror Of
Sanghi Nagar, Lausanne 'Corpse' And Kasparov
In our home, we tend to whitewash the year
1994. There is an unwritten rule in that we do not mention the
name Gata Kamsky and Sanghi Nagar anywhere. The year and venue
was the first major lowpoint for Anand. He was a step closer to
take on Kasparov and Karpovfor the PCA and FIDE titles. He had taken
the lead but choked inspectacular fashion. He then lost a rapid
play-off in just 17 moves.The lightning kid beaten in his own game.
The world knew the word choke in 1999 when South Africa tied with
Australia in the World Cup semi-final in Edgbaston. I knew about this
term in 1994 itself.
After leading the match 2-0, Anand lost two games to Kamsky. The classical score was tied. The match moved into rapids where Kamsky won 2-0.
In 1995, the pain of 1994 was extinguished.
After years, it was theclash everyone had waited for between the
master and the pretender tothe throne. Kasparov, a bonafide legend of
the sport and the worldchampion, squared off against Anand in the
World Chess Championship atthe World Trade Centre in New York. We were
all waiting inanticipation after the end of every game. A
draw was greeted withrelief. Every game, we would silently
express our relief he had notlost. After eight drawn games, Anand gave a
country of a billion people, hopeby winning against Kasparov in round nine.
For us, it was acelebration of unseen proportions. However,
as the chess world wouldknow, Kasparov's 'dirty tactics' would
unsettle Anand.
In the next game, after every move,
Kasparov would bang the door andthe closed room would shake. Why a closed
room? Due to fire safetyregulations at the World Trade Centre.
Years later, Anand admitted inan interview that he made the mistake of
not protesting at that timewhen in hindsight he should have. However,
another lesson insportsmanship. Anand had realised his
position was bad and thus, hedid not want to be labelled a 'sore loser'.
He lost the championshipby a margin of 10.5-7.5. A golden chance was missed.
Even today, we still say,"Damm you, Kasparov" for whatever
happened in New York.
The match where Anand was so close to winning. The World Championship match against Kasparov in 1995 | Photo: Reuters
In 1997, Anand played non-stop chess for a
month in Groningen to topthe field of 96 players. In cricket, that
is like playing 31consecutive ODIs in one month. He qualified
for the WorldChampionships to face Karpov. Although he
was undefeated in 31 games,by the time he arrived in Lausanne for the
championship in 1998, hewas in his own words, "Karpov waited
for the corpse of his challengerto be delivered in a coffin." It was nosurprise that Anand lost. However, what
hurt me the most was theconstant murmurs that Anand lacked the
killer instinct to become worldchampion. Anand will always be remembered
as a good player but not alegendary player. All such murmurs grew
louder as we entered the newmillennium.
The unfair match - Anand vs Karpov in Lausanne 1998 | Photo: Dagobert Kohlmeyer
Trying to keep the crowd away
In 2008, Anand had decided to come to
Bhopal on a cold Novemberwinter's day. He had told us to keep
the visit extremely private.He was exhausted. However, as luck would
have it, it was electionseason in Madhya Pradesh. Raja Bhoj airport
would see plenty ofpoliticians making trips all over the state
and sometimes to NewDelhi. So, reporters would be stationed to
catch a glimpse of important personalities.Unfortunately, one of the reporters spotted
Anand getting into ourcar. Even more unfortunately, he tipped off
one of the media guys whoby coincidence was staying in the same
society that we were.
In the next morning, we notice that about
50-60 camerapersons arepositioned near the lawn. The news had
spread. Anand had arrived in the lake city. By the evening time, every print
publication and radiostation in Bhopal had managed to make what
was a private family visitinto a public affair.
A few quiet moments with family for Anand were not easy to come by. Vishy and Aruna Anand with Siddharth Viswanathan (left) and his parents Shivakumar Viswanathan (Anand's brother) and his wife.
The first decade of the millennium was
exhilirating for us in thefamily. Anand finally had silenced the
detractors by winning the WorldChampionship in Tehran, 2000. There were
still some critics who saidthat it could not be legitimised as there
was a split in FIDE. In2007, the championship was unified and a double Round Robin evenywas played to crown the undisputed world
champion. Anand finallybecame the undisputed champion. In 2008, he
defeated Vladmir Kramnikin Bonn, who had dethroned Kasparov in 2000
in match-play by a solidpoint. Anand had crossed the magical mark of
2800 ELO and was the worldnumber one ranked chess player in the
world. For those who do not knowthe 2800 ELO mark, in simple terms, it is
like having a Test averageof over 100.
So much had happened, this reception was
the crowning glory for us andalso for Anand, who was on top of the world
in every sense. The crowdjust could not be kept away, neither in our
society and neither at therestaurant.
Eclipsing my wedding
I was getting married in December 2013. My
in-laws were based in Mathura, the land of Lord Krishna. We had
invited Anand for my wedding and he arrived. It was the first time he
had come to Mathura. When Iasked him about how Mathura was, he replied
in his trademark wit, "Itis a quaint place. It is like how Krishna
left it 5000 years ago minusthe IOC refinery." Anand was part of
my wedding procession and he diddance a jig for three seconds (video is in our
custody and never makingit public).
Anand with Siddharth Viswanathan at the latter's wedding
There was a special request for police
protection for him which wasgranted. He was coming from Brijwasi Lands
Inn, one of the lonefour-star hotels in Mathura and he was
accorded total security. He wasseated in the front and he posed for photos
with me. Was indeed aproud moment. After my thread ceremony in
1995 and his wedding in1996, this was the third event where we
were together.
However, the media did it again. Somehow, a
report leaked that he hadattended the wedding in Mathura Refinery
Nagar. What followed was atravesty of journalism. The headline was:
Viswanathan Anand steals theshow at nephew's marriage. The report
mentioned my wife's name, myfather-in-law's name but my name was not
even mentioned. In both Hindiand English reports, my name never came up!
The Hindi report went onefurther - stating that the occasion of my
marriage was eclipsed andpeople came to see only him which became a
source of pride for MathuraRefinery Nagar. When I think about it, I
laugh out loud.
Achieved Everything
He is a five-time world champion. The only
player to have won theworld title in three different styles.
Being in the top 10 of theworld chess rankings for a staggering 28
years. Won the World Rapidtitle in 2017 in Riyadh by also beating the
current champion MagnusCarlsen along the way. Winning the 2010
World Championship by battlinga volcano and an adamant Bulgarian Chess
Federation. Winning
the Amber Chess Rapid andBlitz tournaments regularly. Chess Oscar
five times. A minor planet in thesolar system named after him. Winning the Rajiv Gandhi Khel
Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.When he achieved it in 1988, he was the
first Indian ChessGrandmaster. Now, 31 years later, after
him, India has 64 moreGrandmasters.
Is there anything left to achieve for him?
Not really. He has actuallydone it all. Yet, his passion remains. When
he won the World RapidChampionship in Riyadh in 2017, he told me
with the words that reallystuck with me, "It is nice to be known
as a current champion ratherthan a former champion." The quote
summed up Anand in a nutshell.Quiet desire, ruthlessness and the fight to
continue achievingsuccess. Happy Belated Birthday, Chitappa.
For me, you shall andalways will be the person who cracks the
wittiest jokes with astraight face.
Anand with the closest members of his family | Photo: Siddharth Viswanathan's Facebook
About the author
Siddharth Viswanathan studied journalism at the University of Mumbai. He is a well known sports journalist and has worked for several periodicals and websites including Dainik Bhaskar, Cricbuzz, Indiatimes, NDTV sports etc. Currently he is the digital sports head of News Nation. He is also the nephew of Vishy Anand!
This entire December, ChessBase India is celebrating Vishy Anand's 50th birthday. We would like you to contribute any interesting story that you might have with Anand so that we can publish it on our newspage. In case you would like to share, you can do so from this google form link. Alternatively you can also send it to us via chessbaseindia@gmail.com
The best article, anecdote, or story submitted and published on our newspage will get this ChessBase 15 copy signed by Vishy Anand!
Make sure you get your hands on Vishy Anand's book Mind Master (written by the man himself), has been launched on 13th of December 2019.
You can also get the Vishy Anand 50th anniversary special t-shirt launched by ChessBase India. It comes in two colours - grey and white.