Viswanathan Anand inspires youngsters

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A few words of encouragement penned by Viswanathan Anand in his official letter head is one of the most prized possessions of International Women Master M. Saimeera Ravi.

“Through a common friend, I received a letter from Anand congratulating me on winning a silver medal at the Asian sub-junior girls’ chess championship in 1993,” recollected Saimeera, who adores the four-time world champion.

“I’m always lost for words when Anand is around. Whenever he invited me as part of a small team for dinner, I used to simply sit and keep looking at his face,” she added.

In 2010, when M. Mahalakshmi returned to India with a world U-12 girls’ bronze medal from Greece, she was welcomed by an encouraging message from Anand’s wife Aruna. “I haven’t deleted the message on my mobile,” Mahalakshmi said.

While Anand single-handedly led a chess revolution in India and his achievements inspired many young boys and girls to start playing chess, he has also personally kept in touch with future champions to motivate them.

Despite his busy schedule, he has been quietly encouraging players in his own ways.

“In 1998, when I was preparing for the world youth championship, I was studying mostly from chess books. At that time, I had an opportunity to meet Anand and he advised me to start using computers.

And when I returned home with the world title, he presented me with a sandal wood chessboard and played three games with me.

I can never forget that experience,” said WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy.

For former world U-16 champion S. P. Sethuraman, a 30-minute discussion with Anand has greatly helped him graduate into a GM. “I used to keep trying for a win in dead equal position and at times even lose the game by over playing.

Anand advised me to accept draws in dead equal position and save energy for the next game,” Sethuraman said.

International Master K. Priyadarshan said he never had an opportunity to interact with Anand but he has no doubts on why he took up chess. Not only for the Madurai boy, Anand is a role model for all budding chess players in India.