The kingpin

Close on the heels of India’s victory in the Twenty20 world championships, Viswanathan Anand has made India proud by becoming the world chess champion. In a country that is obsessed with cricket, it is easy to miss the true magnitude of Anand’s achievement.

Anand, who has been consistently at the top of the world chess stage for a long time now, is now the World number 1, the World champion, the World Blitz champion and the World Rapid champion. Perhaps never before — especially in a sport played by almost all countries — has an Indian stamped his dominance on the world stage with such authority. This is akin to one country holding all the world titles in cricket — a game taken seriously by a dozen nations.

Let us also point out that his success has essentially come without any backing from either the government or the various politician-controlled sports associations. And not a little of this success has to do with his style of play — quick and aggressive, quite belying his soft-spoken, gentlemanly persona.

Over the years, Anand’s rise to the summit of the chess world has also led to a revival of the game in India, the land of its origin, and as a result, today we are lucky to have a pool of talented young players such as Koneru Humpy, P Harikrishna, P Negi, and Tania Sachdev, all of whom, with adequate support, are fully capable of carrying on the baton from Anand in the years to come.

Now that he has won the ultimate honour for his country, government agencies and corporate sponsors should step in to support the game, which is not exactly flooded with funds. For example, recently, in the National ‘A’ championships in Chennai, grandmasters refused to play because of the poor quality of accommodation provided.

Young players have to look around to get help, including advanced computers, from corporate sponsors. Such things are not becoming of a country that lays claim to the sport’s world champion, and this is why the best tribute we can pay to Anand for his tremendous achievement is to actively promote the game at all levels.

Interestingly, soon after winning the world title, Anand, who has never hankered after any form of government recognition or largesse, expressed his curiosity about the kind of reception he would get on his return to India. We have done very well — some might say we went overboard — in feting the victorious Twenty20 cricket team with money and apartments and cars and whatnot. Anand’s achievement deserves to be recognised in an equally befitting manner.

Let us give him a pleasant surprise by giving him an excellent reception when he returns.