VISWANATHAN ANAND **************************************************** image.png Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life by Viswanathan Anand with Susan Ninan; Published by Hachette; Pages 274;Price Rs 599/- ********************************* Anand dedicates his book to his mother by mentioning her at the beginning of the book-For my mother, who told me to always write down my thoughts, good or bad. She said, 'One day you will read them and realize how beautiful they are.' A few decades ago, a young Viswanathan Anand was asked by an elderly gentleman what he did for a living while on a train journey to Kerala. Anand, having just turned pro, replied that he played chess. "But that's not a secure career choice," the gentleman muttered before pausing and adding, "Unless you're Viswanathan Anand." The book under review Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life (with Susan Ninan) is not a simple autobiography. It is a compendium of life lessons based on his own experiences of becoming a chess player and, thereafter, a world beater who will forever be known as one of the greatest to have played the game. The book lists lessons learnt while playing sport at the highest level and how the mind-body synergy is key to becoming the world’s best chess player. Mind Master documents the trials and tribulations in the course of Anand’s journey. “It is biographical but in a slightly different format. Instead of documenting my life story chronologically I have tried to document the lessons I found most important, the learnings from them and what impact they had on me. That’s how the book flows....I have mentioned that my growth in chess has been very natural, very spontaneous without the kind of template a trainer would have for an aspiring player. And when I look back at my own story and my early growth as a chess player till the time I became a grandmaster, I see that it isn’t a conventional story in any sense. I wasn’t coming out of a tradition and that’s why I could experiment the way I did. I also talk about how spontaneity and the whole experience of enjoying chess helped me absorb a lot of useful lessons. Of course there are chapters on disappointments like New York and joy when I beat Kramnik playing the best I ever have.” The book will appeal to chess aficionados and sports fans. Anand’s emphasis on physical stamina is fascinating. According to him, “The most important thing is stamina. You want to be able to handle 6 hours of focussed attention and need your brain not to get tired. When you get tired you tend to forget things and that’s when blunders happen. It is no use playing 5 good hours and then losing out. So during all my matches, in the morning, my team and I would meet up, I go for a run, climbing or whatever it is that could really raise the heart rate. This is good because chess builds up tension, you are constantly lost in your thoughts. You get a lot of positive and negative emotions sitting inside and they are knocking around in your mind. I have often wondered if the physical training you do is to get rid of tension or build your ability to sustain pain. I feel that the one hour spent by myself, running or lifting weights, is the one hour you are not thinking about chess and that’s the main value.” Anand sparked a chess revolution in India by taking it from a hobby to a mainstream sport. Moreover, doing it by himself, at a time when the sport was the domain of Soviet Union-backed chess players like Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik The book reveals how he prepared for the world championship match against Russian Vladimir Kramnik and how he felt at one point that the match was being thrust upon him by Kramnik and his team. That it was all done to suit Kramnik may have prodded Anand to reserve his best for this contest. The other thing that helped was Kramnik’s comment saying Anand had no strategy, and that’s what cost him the title. “It did play in my mind. There is no debate Kramnik is a very good player and we had played each other long enough to know of each others’ games. That’s why I needed to be different. Try something I have never tried. For a year we planned it and must say the execution went perfectly to plan.” Anand explains why he lost to Garry Kasparov in 1995 and is forthright in saying he continues to play chess because he enjoys it. It isn’t only about winning tournaments or matches and proving to the world that one is still the player one once was. Vishy Anand is sans doubt one of the greatest Indian sportsmen and the book is a true picture of the Champ. From the time he learnt to move pieces on a chessboard as a six-year-old, Anand has bagged several awards. He was the first World Chess Champion from Asia; he became World No. 1, annexed five World Championship titles. He is a man for all seasons in the world of chess and his is a respected names . These are just some of the nuggets Anand touches upon with characteristic wit, easy wisdom and disarming candour in Mind Master – a delightful and invaluable exploration into the self that will thrill, inspire and motivate readers as few books have done before. The book has nuggets about Anand's quirks ― such as his habit of signing only a particular square should a fan ask for his autograph on a chessboard, or his habit of letting his mind wander to scenes fromYes Minister or Monty Python and the Holy Grail when he's caught in a troubling position. The book is a collection of moments that stand out from the career of Anand. Anand whose profession sees him remember thousands of intricate patterns and lines on the chessboard, but also one could have such poor memory that he once forgot his own wedding anniversary and admittedly needs to flip through Facebook profiles of his friends before school reunions to remember their faces and names. The book also wonderfully captures the drama and intrigue that can surround chess, especially when it comes to the World Chess Championship. Kasparov flits from being a rival in 1995 to ally during the 2010 World Championship tie in Sofia against Topalov (where he would help Anand via Skype) to being a rival again by the time Anand faced Boris Gelfand for the World title in 2012. Kramnik also helped Kasparov out against Anand during their PCA World Championship match in 1995, but almost became a second for the Indian during his 2010 World's title bid. Anand's recollections about the 2010 Sofia game are the highlight of the book simply for the surreal nature of the chain of events. There was a volcanic eruption that shut down flights, and a consequent 2,000-km roadtrip traversing Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania to get to Bulgaria. To pass the time, Anand and his team of seconds watched the popular TV show House and Lord of the Rings. Incredulously, at the end of the 40-hour road-trip and with a World Championship clash looming, Anand and his team took two rounds of their hotel in their car just so they could finish off the LoTR trilogy. While Carlsen, Kramnik, Kasparov switch roles from friend to foe, the one constant aide Anand had by his side was his wife Aruna. The book offers a glimpse into the growing presence of Aruna, who when they got married couldn't tell if Anand had won or lost a game, but would later go on to negotiate terms with Kramnik's team ahead of the 2008 World Championship and have the brainwave of using a 'force majeure' clause to force a postponement in the 2010 World Chess Championship game with FIDE. The book offers glimpses into the mind and ― more importantly ― the heart of Anand. The agony of losing to Kramnik, the self-awareness that his career is on a downward spiral by the time the World Championship clash with Carlsen in Chennai came about, and the mild pangs of regret at not having been more confrontational throughout his career. Anand also uses the book to address his perception as a 'bland nice guy', to the point where rivals thought of him as a pushover. His career is proof that he wasn't. He's been dismissed as a coffee house player by Soviet Union players. The chess community was dismissive of his World title at Tehran in 2000. Karpov deliberately arrived 40 minutes late for a game against him in 1997 to get under his skin. Kasparov tried to rattle him ahead of the World Chess Championship tie by banging his pieces on the board and slamming the door as he left the room after a move. Topalov tried to unnerve Anand during the 2010 World Chess Championship by employing 'Sofia Rules', where he would not talk to Anand at all, even if he were to offer a draw during a game. All through it, Anand kept his composure and grace . Along the way, he changed the perception of the sport back home and collected five World Chess titles. Anand is an astronomy buff, and an avid reader on maths, economics and current affairs. He loves to travel, particularly on wildlife safaris. He supports many charitable causes, chief among them being that of children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disabilities. Susan Ninan is a sports writer with ESPN and is based in Bengaluru. She has previously worked with the Times of India and has covered major sporting events like the Commonwealth Games and the World Chess Championships. If you want to know the journey of 'The Lightning Kid' becoming 'The Madras Tiger' then you have to read his book. P.P.Ramachandran.