With the World Champion

This man does not bathe in news nor is he the sizzling hero of common multitudes, but he certainly is the king of the minds and brains – the very one and only GM Vishwanathan Anand.

His recent world championship title against GM V Topalov of Bulgaria proved once again that he is undisputedly the most versatile and prodigious chess-master even at 40. Truly he remains the cherished icon of every single chess player of this motherland.

My experience with the grandmaster was exceedingly rich, inspiring and touching. I was moved to be in the very presence of the six feet tall milky king – so gentle, so submissive that will perhaps give you the futile illusion of him being a true genius and world-champion.

It all started in fall 2006, wherein I got an opportunity to play in the NIIT’s National Chess Championship – the very brand that sponsors Vishy from inception. It was indeed a hectic tournament which filtered players from grass-root levels i.e. from school level to the Nationals. For the intermediate district level, I had to go to Vapi, which was a 10 hour long chilling winter journey from Ahmedabad via a rickety State bus. Thereafter, I remember vanquishing all opponents from the neighboring states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, MP; having to play online in my school alone till six in the evening. In the said regard I cannot miss out my teacher Ms J Rao whose incessant support steered me through all odds.

The finals of the Chess Championship beckoned me in Chennai in December 2006 just prior to my class X boards which further escalated my hesitation to participate. Eventually I landed up in the Russian Center in Chennai, a familiar place of Vishy’s chess-childhood, where the Grandmaster obliged us (the national participants) with a simultaneous. Almost everyone close to Vishy was present – his wife Aruna, his mother and not to forget the big-wigs of NIIT headquarters. To be very honest, our game was more of a commercial endorsement with dozens odd paparazzi and flashes terrorizing the very tranquility for a chess game.

I can well recall Vishy walking up to me at the end of my game and telling me my flaws – his humbleness, his greatness, his versatility inspired greatly the little chess-player in me. Last but not the least the memories of receiving the prize from the world champion still exhilarates me, especially because he is again the New World Chess Champion.

GM - Grandmaster (in chess)