Comfortable in Germany, longing for home

I REACHED Germany in February to play the German league matches.

- VISHWANATHAN ANAND

I played on a Sunday and then left the country for a short camp. I got back to Germany on March 10 and was supposed to play a game on March 14 or 15 before returning home on March 17. However, my return was postponed first to March 21, and then to March 27. Eventually, it became clear that the world was shutting down completely.

I have been staying in a small town called Bad Soden, near Frankfurt. I have my own place to stay as I did a lot of my world championship training here, so this stay, so far, has not been my longest in Bad Soden. In that sense, I know this place very well. However, while I used to train here, there was a specific purpose or a schedule. This time, it is just an extended stay. We thought flights would resume on March 31, then we thought the lockdown would be lifted in April, but now it continues into May. I was also lucky in a sense that I got here two weeks before the lockdown was announced here. I could have been stuck in a hotel somewhere for ages. Here, I have my friends next door.