Newsgroup: it.hobby.scacchi
Titolo: intervista ad anand (lungo) 2/3

Life is different for a top player, isn't it so?
It is. I don't deny that. On the other hand, I tend to
meet other top players too. So, I don't think it is
something so special. Okay, certainly it is an
achievement. But it is not like, 'okay I am a top player.
So, I am different'. I think I am a very normal person. I
don't think I changed this way or that way because I am a
top chess player.
You are a celebrity in India. Is it because you stay in
Spain that you feel your life is as normal as anybody
else's?
I think it all depends on how you deal with it. If you
are a sportsman, you will always have fans. Generally, I
don't think, it bothers me that much. In fact, I like it.
It is a pleasant feeling that what you do means something
to lot of other people. On the other hand, life goes on…
You are the first Indian to break into the international
chess scene. Till then it was dominated only by Europeans
and Russians. How did they look at a person from India
winning major tournaments?
I think only the press looks at it from that angle. The
organisers were quite happy initially because a player
from India was there. Okay, may be in the first year,
people talk, 'there's an Indian in the tournament, let's
see how he plays'. After that, it doesn't matter much
from where you come. They realise it doesn't make much
difference.
Yes, there was some novelty value in the beginning. But
now they just see me as Anand, they don't see me as a
player representing any country. I don't see the other
players in terms of their nationality too. Very often,
you speak to them and you know them as friends, that's
all.
What is the kind of relationship that exists among the
top chess players? Can you be friends?
Of course, we can be friends. In fact, among the top ten,
I think, almost all of them have at some point, come and
stayed with me in my house. I have gone out to dinner
with almost everyone in the chess world. Sometimes, after
we play a game, we go out and eat together. Generally, I
think, the relations are excellent.
In general, I am friends with boys of my age, or let's
say five or six years younger but not more than that.
They are the ones I tend to hang on. You get to know
people in the circuit after a while. Then, even age
doesn't matter. There are fifty year olds with whom I go
out for dinner quite often and then you don't think of
the age difference at all. After all, we share so much
time in front of the chessboard and that is what counts.
Of course, there are always one or two people I wouldn't
really become too friendly with. I wouldn't say, there is
a problem. For instance, Karpov and Kasparov. Their
rivalry is quite intense, still they talk to each other.
But there is a certain amount of tension between them.
That is one famous example. Also, Korchnoi had this tense
relation with Karpov. For the lower part, this is not the
norm.
Do you have such tense relations with anyone?
No, not too much. I mean, in general. If I really don't
like someone, we just avoid each other. We don't make a
big deal out of it by fighting or anything of that sort.
When you go out for dinner with a chess player after a
game, do you discuss chess or something else?
We discuss everything. We discuss chess too. Sometimes we
discuss a game we played or something like that.
Karpov is in his forties and Kasparov in his thirties.
What do you feel is the reason why they remain at the top
even at this age?
They are both all-time greats. You can also say the same
thing about Korchnoi. Korchnoi, I would say, was there at
the top more by the force of his will power. But these
two are really all-time greats. But it is not the norm.
What they are doing is something really amazing. Karpov
has been at the top for almost thirty years, since 1970
roughly, when he broke into the top twenty! So, he is in
the top twenty for the last thirty years!
It is because of a lot of factors. It is will power, it
is talent, it is luck; it is a bit of everything. There
are many great players who did not have Karpov's luck.
Sometimes they don't make it in the crucial events,
sometimes their family life was not happy and sometimes
they have health problems… A lot of such factors can
intervene. They are talented, they have tremendous will
power and they could overtake whatever problems that came
along and thus they could stay at the top.
In general, I would say, definitely Karpov and Kasparov
had luck. It is not to take any credit away. For
instance, we can look at someone like Keres or Spassky.
The State did not support them the way it supported these
people. Still, I would definitely place these two as all-
time greats.
Karpov manages to play only in the finals of the FIDE
world championship, while the other players have to go
through several hurdles. Last year, you went to play
against him tired, after playing for a month. Is he not
manipulating the championship?
I think, it is just a farce! I consider Karpov as the
World champion from 1975 to 1985, that is it. I do not
consider him world champion any point afterwards.
Didn't you protest last year?
There is no use. He is very good in politics and FIDE
basically was very irresponsible in what they did. They
made him the world champion for the second time. This
time, he had no right to it. And then, he got the
privileges of the World Champion, like playing only in
the last round and so on. Anyway.. I consider him an all-
time great because he was the world champion from '75-85.
After that, he is the world champion in political
lobbying. FIDE really disgraced itself by doing this.
You must be very disappointed because the much-awaited
match between you and Kasparov did not take place.
Obviously.
The whole world was looking forward to the match.
I was really looking forward to the match. But sometimes,
these things happen. You cannot do anything about it.
Will it take place sometime in 2000?
I don't know. There are some chances. I think it is
better not to get excited about it till it actually
happens. In fact, I can tell you honestly that in the
last one month, I haven't given it any thought.
Newspapers described it as the match of the titans.
There were many people who thought it would really be an
exciting match. It might have given a real boost to chess
at this time. Chess is becoming very popular these days.
Why couldn't they find a sponsor?
They had a sponsor but at the eleventh hour, he pulled
out and they didn't have time to find another sponsor. I
think, if they started looking, they could have. It might
be April, it might be June… things might change. So,
there is no point in speculating till it actually
happens.
Continued in next segment 'I have to improve, not just to
beat Kasparov but anyone'
'COMPUTERS DON'T WIN GAMES BECAUSE THEY ARE SUPERIOR TO
HUMANS. THIS IS A MYTH. THEY WIN GAMES BECAUSE OF PSYCHOLOGY'
The Rediff Interview / Vishwanathan Anand
Click on the Rediff On The Net link at
http://www.mantra.com/newsplus
January 11, 2000
In the second part of his conversation with Shobha
Warrier, Vishwanathan Anand discusses, among other
things, the role of computers in contemporary chess.
Recently, in one of your interviews, you said that you
had to improve a lot to beat Kasparov. Which are the
areas that you feel you have to improve?
 I think I have to improve a lot. Period. Not to beat
Kasparov alone but beat anyone. Generally I am happy with
my game but it is time now for me to look back. I think
it can happen after years of very good results. If I look
at my own games, it is clear that I was not playing
perfect chess. I don't think anybody plays perfect chess!
I didn't play perfect chess in '97 and '98. I just took
chances and I won a lot of games and had very good
results.
If I look at the games, I find that I made a lot of
mistakes, like everybody else. I think Kasparov made a
lot of mistakes in '99. You don't understand chess if you
think people can play perfect chess. It doesn't work that
way.You will always find new things. So I made that
comment in that sense.
A lot of people, after reading the interview thought,
felt the difference between him and me has grown! I don't
dispute that I am the one who has to prove. His results
over the last fifteen years are far more impressive than
mine. I had a couple of very good years but he has been
the world champion. But I don't think the difference has
grown or anything like that. I was talking in general
about having to improve as a player.
To beat the Number one player ...
Yes. Anyway, I have to improve not just to beat him but
anyone.
Do players become complacent after sometime, especially
if you are winning more and losing less?
This can happen. You would say it is complacence. But it
implies somehow that you become careless. What happens is
that, when you are playing, you tend to look at the
problems that you had before. And if you don't have many
problems for quite sometime, then you get stuck at where
you are. In that sense, a few setbacks from time to time
are very good because it motivates you to perform better.
I wouldn't say, I was really complacent. I think what
happens is your self-confidence - something which is very
good, as without self-confidence you can do nothing in
chess - grows, grows and grows. But at some point, other
people start getting used to you and your style. So,
after sometime, you have to start developing new ideas
and new trends.
So you also must be changing your style quite often
Yes. You are always looking at all your old analysis,
games and try to find out new ideas and new positions.
Without that, it is not possible to play chess because
things get worked out. If you don't find new ideas,
people can just stop you in your lane.
Since mental toughness is very important in chess, do
players try to intimidate the player on the other side of
the board psychologically?
Generally, no. Maybe, it is a bad habit. It was very
popular in the Soviet days. Now nobody does it anymore.
The young Russian players don't bother about doing this.
Like I said, if you have a good relationship, you don't
try to do such things. You just try to play good moves
and yes, intimidate the other guy by playing good chess.
I wouldn't say, it is a big problem anymore.
Certainly there are a few people like Kasparov who is
well-known for his faces and things like that. Again, I
wouldn't take it too much out of context. In general, it
is not a major problem. I think, the best way to
intimidate someone is play good moves!
While playing, do you try to suppress your real feelings?
After a good move, do you show your satisfaction? What do
you do if you feel very angry or disappointed inside
after a bad move?
It varies from person to person. It varies from moment to
moment too. Sometimes, you are so happy that you can't
control it. Other times, you keep a poker face! You make
a really lousy move and sometimes, you are able to hide
that very well and pretend that everything is very
normal, hoping that the other guy won't notice it.
Sometimes, you make such a bad move that you can't help
hitting your head. It varies. In general, the basis of
chess as a sport is, you try not to let your opponent see
what's inside your mind. And, I have a poker face most of
the time. At least that is what other people tell me.
Generally Indians are supposed to be very emotional. Do
you consciously suppress your feelings and remain poker
faced?
You can be emotional and at the same time have a poker
face! My emotions go up and down during a game but there
are other people who really don't care. Of course, I feel
all the tension inside. But I try to remain poker faced.
Your mother can always spot the emotions, you know. She
just looks at your face and tells you, this is the same
face you had when you were four years old and you did
something wrong. They know immediately.
You said the other day that when you first started
playing chess there was no software available at all. On
the other hand, today's young players can have access to
so many software programs to improve their game. How much
has chess as a game changed or benefited due to Internet
and the software revolution?
It's made everything much faster. The information cycle
goes much faster. For example, if I play a good idea in
one tournament and by that evening, that is, within five
minutes, everyone in the world has it. All the other top
players know about it immediately. Earlier, you had to
wait one month till a booklet with all the games played
in certain important tournaments was mailed to your
house. Now, it takes just five minutes.
Also, you have to work much harder; so does everyone
else. A lot of things have become easier. Technology
won't make your life more difficult or easy, it just
changes the rules. It has closed some areas of the game
too; the areas of the game that you can work on the
computer. A lot of things are more difficult to do. You
can't catch people and trap anymore as they check
everything, the probability of error, on the computer.
On the other hand, it has opened up new doors. There are
many positions which were terribly complicated. Humans
can generally decide these things in five minutes but we
cannot be hundred percent sure unless you check
everything mathematically. There are positions which you
used to leave to a team of four people to double check
for two weeks but now you leave a computer running
overnight and by morning, you are almost sure that it's
been checked. You still have to test one or two things
because the computer can evaluate things badly. In
general, everything has become much faster. In a
nutshell, it has been very good for the sport.
 Earlier, someone like Karpov had a big advantage over
the others because the Soviet state arranged seconds for
them; arranged training camps for them. They used to tell
five or six Grandmasters to work for this guy. So, people

e' interessantissimo---- MA NON E' UN'INTERVISTA!!! e' il nuovo libro
di Anand <<La mia prima intervista in 4000 pagine>>  :))
sara' un problema allora se Anand scrive il libro <<Il mio primo libro
di scacchi>> in 24 volumi.... beh,,, problema... relativamente....
credo che ne venderebbe di copie...!
:)
Julian//
--
  "nulla e' impossibile in questa vita,
   la cosa piu' difficile e' riuscire a
   crederci."
 
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