Football sub-plot to chess match?

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The Viswanathan Anand-Boris Gelfand world championship chess match in Moscow next year might have a football sub-plot. Gelfand, it is learnt, is a die-hard fan of Barcelona, probably the most popular football club in the world at the moment. Anand has an affection for Spain’s most successful club, Real Madrid, even though his loyalty is not as fierce as the Israeli’s.

According to an interview published on an Israeli website www.haaretz.com [2], Gelfand follows Barcelona’s fortunes with “fanatical” interest. The grandmaster has gone on record that he and his daughter sing the “Barca” anthem together.

The website added that a Russian fan paid for Gelfand’s flight and ticket to attend the 2011 Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United at Wembley in appreciation of the GM’s triumph at the Candidates match.

During an interaction with Deccan Chronicle on Thursday, Anand spoke at length about the beautiful game. “It is interesting to know that Gelfand supports Barca. Having lived near Madrid for many years, I would like to see Real do well. That doesn’t mean I hate Barcelona, who are universally loved. Of late, however, it is boring to watch Barca win everything. Even in the latest El Clasico, Barcelona outplayed Real. For the sake of avoiding monotony, I hope Real win the league this time,” he said.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has the special ability to hammer the winning mentality into his team. Anand acknowledged the Portuguese’s motivational powers. “Managers such as Mourinho and Alex Ferguson have the knack to derive the maximum out of their players,” the world chess champion added.

Anand also keeps track of other sporting disciplines. “I read about other sportspersons and how they handle certain situations. For example, I was able to relate to the comebacks of Roger Federer and Tiger Woods this year,” he said.