A curious phenomenon regarding Viswanathan Anand – the undisputed World Chess Champion, is the significant lack of appreciation from both Indians as well as everyone else. I mean here is a game widely considered to be the most cerebral in the world. It enjoys universal popularity in every corner of the globe. And Anand is the only man in the world who has won the title in three different formats. He’s also the oldest champion ever and has won it three times in a row against world class players including Kramnik and Topalov.
And yet, compared to the television coverage of the IPL, hardly any space is devoted to this awesome dude. Remember when Abhinav Bindra won the Olympic gold for shooting? There was more press coverage of that than there was of Anand’s victory. And shooting isn’t even a popular sport in India! You know how we keep hearing about how Indian sports doesn’t get any attention? But when something truly outstanding does happen like Anand creating history, barely a peep out of the media! I’m not sure why this is the case, but there it is.
In the International arena, it’s equally shocking. Take for example Bobby Fischer. He won the title just once and refused to defend it after that. And he’s hailed as the greatest player of all time. You know why? Because he’s American! Kasparov is hailed as a national hero in Russia along with other greats like Kramnik and Karpov. But Anand? People seem to be trying to ignore the fact that he’s currently the greatest player alive.
When he won the title for the third time a month ago, the official website devoted to the match merely puts up a “Viswanathan Anand won the match” announcement in small type at the top. Here’s a screenshot (click for a larger image):
Check out the puny announcement!
Look at the website. Is there anything to indicate that Anand won the match apart from the pathetic admission at the top? We have interviews from Topalov, his manager, and the FIDE president, but not from the Champion himself! It’s almost as if they’re ashamed to admit that Anand won and are trying to downplay that aspect as much as possible.
And it wasn’t a “match.” It was the bloody World Chess Championship dammit! It’s as if India won the Cricket world cup and the newspaper headline says “India wins game.”
As a person who keeps up to date with the buzz in Chess, this “under mentioning” of Anand goes way back. In 2007, when Anand acquired the title in Mexico, chess purists said that he hadn’t won it in a regular match and so didn’t qualify as a “real” chess champion. They predicted he would be knocked out soon and was “just a placeholder.” for the next champion (whoever that was.) Then Anand beat Kramnik – one of the greatest players in history in a proper match a year later and retained his title. And then he did it again a month ago by knocking off Topalov!
Where are the doubters now?
Am I imagining things here? Correct me if I’m wrong, but suppose it was a Russian or an American who had won the Chess title three times in a row in three different formats at the age of 40. We would have heard no end of how great he (or she) was, interviews, lists, opinion pages and much much more. But it’s just Anand right? Just an anomaly. Soon the real chess champion is going to show up and then we can start talking!
To be sure, there are some awesome players waiting on the sidelines most notably Magnus Carlson – the 19 year old player who currently has the highest ELO rating. On forums all over the world, I’ve been reading that one day he’ll beat Anand and get the world title. Then the world will have a “proper” champion. Well, that might happen one day. But it’s not the case now. Currently by any standard, Viswanathan Anand is the greatest chess player alive. And he’s beaten the very best the world has to throw at him three times in a row in three different formats. That’s something that has never been accomplished in history.
So for what it’s worth, here are my feelings. Anand – you’re the greatest player in the world. There are many of us who realize this and applaud you. And those who want to ignore your achievements just don’t realize how special you are. Fuck them!
Totally agree :-)
Are his media managers responsible for the bad coverage? I wonder.