Where does Anand's defeat leave Indian chess?

A few seconds after Viswanathan Anand resigned in Game 9 of the World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen, British GM Nigel Short tweeted: End of an era…

Short wasn’t being disrespectful, he was only stating the obvious. Anand has been off the boil for a while… there has been talk of age in the build up to the match; of hunger; of motivation and Carlsen has comprehensively outplayed him in the games so far. There have been times when the young Norwegian has simply grinded Anand in long games and won the psychological battles.

After the draw on Friday, Carlsen’s ELO rating is 2872, which is the current record. It is clear that we have entered the age of Carlsen.

But where does this leave Anand? Indeed, where does this leave India?

Around every Olympics, the conversation centers on India’s billion strong population. A billion – with precious little to savour… at the 2012 London Olympics, India finished in 55th place, behind nations like Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, South Korea and even North Korea.

We are so many but still we just can’t figure out a way to win medals; we still can’t figure out a way to beat the world’s best. The questions focus on scouting, talent, coaching and lack of infrastructure usually.

Then come the answers: “We don’t have the fast twitch muscles, we aren’t tall enough, we aren’t strong enough, we are too lazy, we are too corrupt and we don’t have role models.”

And at a certain level, we have just started believing them. We don’t expect our athletes to strike gold or silver or bronze – we expect them to falter in the early rounds and fail without creating any sort of ripple.

But then we look at Anand – and we think we have a chance.

Now, chess doesn’t need you to be quick or strong or tall. It just needs you to be smart and that’s something most Indians believe they are. Still it was Anand who broke through to the higher echelons of the game and so far he remains the only Indian to do so.

Anand has been among the best players in the world for almost two decades now. He became a GM in 1988 and inspired many in India to take up chess. At one point, he had an ELO rating of over 2800 (only six players in the history of chess have managed that) and he was the undisputed World Champion since 2007.

But despite being around for so many years, Anand has found few Indians climbing up the ranks to join him at the top of the chess world. P Harikrishna, at 45, is the second-highest ranked Indian in the FIDE rankings. Parimarjan Negi is at 78 and Sasikiran, Krishnan at 85. That’s it. India has just four players in the top 100.

Now, a lot of people took up chess after watching Anand burst on to the scene. But many of them found the going at the top level rather difficult. The result: they settled for less; they settled for a job and some corporate sponsorship; they settled for being second best.

“With very good talent and the right sponsorship, you can go to around ELO 2700. But then to get among the very best – you need that little bit extra,” says IM V Saravanan, who has worked with Anand in the past. “But that is the tough bit. Talent is important but your chess basics have to be solid. That’s how they do it Russia, you have know your chess literature at an early age and then you can work on different parts of your game as you grow up.”

In Anand’s case, his love of chess books is almost legendary. In an oft told story, his father, a civil servant, moved the family to the Philippines when Vishy was still a young boy. Eugenio Torre, the first Asian grandmaster, was from Manila and the television networks there gave a lot of importance to chess.

So chess puzzles were the order of the day on televsion and Anand loved nothing more than a challenge. He would enter the contest and win chess manuals so often that one day the channel told him to help himself to as many as he wants so that others could have a chance at winning too.

Being good is one thing. But to be the best you need a certain kind of genius and Anand’s genius extends beyond the 64 black and white squares. Astronomy is one of Anand’s pet subjects – on a clear day, he can point out each constellation in the night sky. He was also invited to the 2008 World Economic Forum as a guest speaker. And of course, he has the memory to simply memorise thousands of games and recognise them at a glance.

“The computer is a great help but it also makes things very easy. In the old days, sometimes while looking through books, you would discover a novelty that you hadn’t even heard of. So you started off slowly, you mastered the basics as best you could before moving on. Now, with the computer programmes, your introduction to chess can be much more complex,” said Saravanan.

Sasikiran (32), Harikrishna (27), Koneru Humpy (26) Negi (20) are brilliant chess players – but to fight the best you need to make sacrifices.

“Sasikiran’s father and Humpy’s father played pretty good chess, they probably had an ELO rating of 2200 and that helped them both,” Sarvanan added. “But they need to go out into the world and fend on their own for a while. They need to stay in a bubble, away from all distractions and focus solely on their games. Not many do that… not many do that for long enough.”

Sponsorships are not a problem for chess players anymore. Anand’s success has ensured that the stars of the future generation have enough backing. Petroleum companies have

International Master DV Prasad, who now works for Indian Oil, remembers the days when going abroad to play was truly a task in itself.

“Compared to then, these guys have it easy. They have sponsorships and going abroad is much easier. In Vishy’s time, it was a struggle to get the backing to do so. But because he has been around and been successful, the younger lot have got a lot of benefits.”

So what’s holding them back?

“I think they all have the talent to beat the top grandmasters. But the problem isn’t the solitary win. The problem is figuring out a way to string good results together. Sometimes they play too much chess and in too many tournament,” Prasad added.

“I would say that any player whose ELO rating is above 2650 – should pick and choose his tournaments. Study and prepare for tournaments that they will pick and then give it their absolute best. Holding more top level tournaments in India will also help give the young GM’s a chance to play against top level opposition.

“However, to expect any of them to become another Anand is just not possible. He is heads and shoulders above them all. They are very good, but he is special. Another Anand is impossible.”

Well, another Anand may be impossible. But India would love it if a few at least got close.