NO MATTER IF IT'S BLACK OR WHITE

KNOWN AS THE LIGHTNING KID OF INDIA, HERE’S CHESS GRANDMASTER VISWANATHAN ANAND, A FIVE-TIME WORLD CHESS CHAMPION IN A CANDID CONVERSATION WITH PROVOKE MAGAZINE

- Namita Gupta

We caught up with the chess champion Viswanathan Anand, is part of the Global Chess League, who the world's first and largest official franchise league of its kind, with chess players from all over the world competing in a unique joint team format. Vishy became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of 2800, a feat he first achieved in 2006. In 2007, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award. In 2022, he was elected the deputy president of FIDE. This year, GCL aims to redefine the world of chess by bringing together the brightest stars in the game including Vishy, who has won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92, India's highest sporting honour. Here's more from the horse's mouth.

1. How did you start playing chess?

My journey and induction to chess started at the age of six. I was intrigued by my sibling’s interest in the game, and I asked my mom to teach me. At seven, I joined the Tal Chess Club, where I began to hone my skills. However, the more intricate understanding of the game came in while I stayed in Manila, where I lived with my family from 1978 -1980, where my father was contracted as a consultant by the Philippine National Railways. My mother was the one who insisted that I stayed with the sport when I shifted there, and due to the 1978 World Championships, the Philippines were witnessing an unprecedented chess boom.