Top 67 Quotes About Viswanathan Anand
#1. Just before a game, I try to keep a clear mind so that I can focus better. I'm the kind of person who plays fast and relies a lot on intuition, so being at peace with myself is vital. Saying my daily prayers helps me achieve this heightened state of mind.
Viswanathan Anand
#2. I don't bench press, but I use machines to work 10-12 muscle groups. Biceps, triceps, a few things for the back, calves, shoulders and so on - and then I'll go on the running machine, cross-trainer or mountain climber.
Viswanathan Anand
#3. Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically but you have to find first what you are good at.
Viswanathan Anand
#4. Chess has given me a lot more than I could ask for. I have been able to feel special, travel the world and do what I truly enjoy. Moreover, chess players love being their own boss and hate having to wake up early!
Viswanathan Anand
#5. There are two aspects to being competitive; one is to do with sports, and the other is about technical skills. Being able to recollect the moves and apply them when necessary is a critical aspect.
Viswanathan Anand
#6. Being the undisputed world champion is a relief. We instituted a unified chess title, I am the absolute world champion.
Viswanathan Anand
#7. I think an important lesson from the game is that once you have made a move, you cannot take it back. You really have to measure your decisions. You think a lot. You evaluate your choices very carefully. There's never any guarantee about what's going to follow once you have made a decision.
Viswanathan Anand
#8. Each match I approach like a new one. The work is so immense that you don't have time to sit and ponder.
Viswanathan Anand
#9. I attend to my fitness. I go the gym every day and try to maintain my physical fitness; without that, it is tough to take challenges on the chess board.
Viswanathan Anand
#10. I would prefer chess to become part of the Olympic Games. This would also lead to chess become more accepted as a sport in general.
Viswanathan Anand
#11. If revenge motivates you, go for it! But the main thing is to set your game in order.
Viswanathan Anand
#12. The Internet gives you access to a lot of material, and it's fun to sit and read. I go to something like Wikipedia and look at different topics ... I find the subject fascinating. I like to read about concepts and mathematicians.
Viswanathan Anand
#14. There is always the risk of being over-confident when you are preparing to face a weaker player.
Viswanathan Anand
#15. In chess, knowledge is a very transient thing. It changes so fast that even a single mouse-slip sometimes changes the evaluation.
Viswanathan Anand
#16. When I started out playing chess as a kid I thought I should be world champion. As a kid you have no idea what that means and you only sort of picture it. It is hard to imagine that I waited all those years and it happened in a late stage of my career.
Viswanathan Anand
#17. Confidence is very important - even pretending to be Confident. If you make a Mistake but do not let your Opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the Mistake.
Viswanathan Anand
#18. I appreciate the support and anyone who takes up a position on my behalf. Especially in matches, this feeling that there are people behind you, gives me a lot of strength.
Viswanathan Anand
#19. For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one.
Viswanathan Anand
#20. I was very lucky that while I was a chess player in a country where chess was not a big deal, I happened to be in the one city where there was a sprouting chess team: Chennai.
Viswanathan Anand
#22. Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against. (on the 2013 World Championship match)
Viswanathan Anand
#23. I personally prefer long-distance walking, but we are talking about pre-tournament preparation. During a tournament I make do with walking, mainly to concentrate before a game.
Viswanathan Anand
#24. I don't know how many calories an average chess player burns per game, but it often exceeds that of a player in ball games. It is not only the chess as such: You need to be fit and undergo complicated preparation.
Viswanathan Anand
#25. When there's an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It's easy that way because then you don't have to worry about anything else.
Viswanathan Anand
#26. You need to motivate yourself, no matter what-definitely when things are bad, but also when things are good. Or else, you risk becoming complacent.
Viswanathan Anand
#27. Intuition in chess can be defined as the first move that comes to mind when you see a position.
Viswanathan Anand
#28. Sometimes, if you are nervous, it could actually turn out to be a manifestation of your exhaustion. The point is that any setback is bad, but if you see it from a perspective, you'll recover.
Viswanathan Anand
#29. I honestly don't remember when and why I started calling my mom 'Momsi'. These are family things; it starts for some reason. It's not that I just call her Momsi; I call her other things as well!
Viswanathan Anand
#30. When I was about six, I saw my elder siblings play chess and pestered my mother into teaching me. Very soon, I was beating everyone at home, and they thought it would be good to join a club. So my sister would take me to the Tal chess club on Thursdays and weekends.
Viswanathan Anand
#31. Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina, and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport. Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes.
Viswanathan Anand
#32. It is important that you don't let your opponent impose his style of play on you. A part of that begins mentally. At the chessboard if you start blinking every time he challenges you then in a certain sense you are withdrawing. That is very important to avoid.
Viswanathan Anand
#33. I feel that schools and corporates should help the government in popularising sports in the country. Blaming the government for every sporting debacle will not be fair.
Viswanathan Anand
#34. Preparedness for a game that usually lasts four-five hours requires good physical condition and also steady nerves.
Viswanathan Anand
#35. In any match, there are few critical moments where there's no second best decision. The rest of the moves are intuitive.
Viswanathan Anand
#36. My practice schedule is not constant and changes a lot and depends on my moods also.
Viswanathan Anand
#37. I think the draw quotient has always been high in world championship matches because the amount of effort people put into neutralizing each other's openings. It's just now with computers that it has reached a new level.
Viswanathan Anand
#38. I keep forcing, I keep learning new things in the game, and so far I have been taking challenges as they come.
Viswanathan Anand
#39. There is technology where you can watch the match live online and also on TV. If people understood the game, I'm sure we would have a lot of chess fans by now.
Viswanathan Anand
#40. Of course, you feel good to play in a familiar environment. I enjoyed Delhi 2000 a lot. But the advantage doesn't work during a game. There, only the moves count.
Viswanathan Anand
#41. I would never suggest to anyone that they drop school for chess. First of all even if you can make it in chess, your social skills need to be developed there.
Viswanathan Anand
#42. Things like the financial markets - a proper grounding in mathematics could help the common man. I believe that if people are more familiar with mathematical concepts ... it can help deal with modern life, which is increasingly complex.
Viswanathan Anand
#43. In a way players at the top should try to promote the game in their own countries as that is the legacy that makes you feel proud. If you have not done that you have failed as a sportsperson.
Viswanathan Anand
#44. I was reasonably interested in mathematics in school. Typically what happens is ... when you start playing chess, it takes up a lot of your attention. But about 10 years ago, I found that the Internet is very good to start learning about a lot of subjects.
Viswanathan Anand
#45. We want more women players to take up chess. There are few participants at the national level and hope it will grow.
Viswanathan Anand
#46. It is very difficult to play a single blitz game! You want to play for a long time. So I tend not to do that anymore.
Viswanathan Anand
#47. When you play with the best in the world, it is important that you not lose focus. You must be fully focused. Even a minor error could result in a massive defeat.
Viswanathan Anand
#48. You bring to chess facets of your personality and what you are. I have interests other than chess, like music and world and current affairs. I also have many friends around the world with whom I like to keep in touch.
Viswanathan Anand
#49. My job is to play chess, the game that I love. I achieve what I can in chess. That is what I focus on. Basically, I am always focused on playing the game, and this is important to me.
Viswanathan Anand
#50. Before a match, I do not follow any chess news except the games.
Viswanathan Anand
#51. Psychology plays a big part but I always say psychology will only be a differentiator when the players are of equal technical strength.
Viswanathan Anand
#52. In the knockout tournaments, it's futile to prepare for a grand finale. You may have worked out many strategies for the final. But you may lose in the first round itself.
Viswanathan Anand
#53. In 1996, the players at the VSB tournament in Amsterdam sent me a card for my wedding with this dedication, 'Anand congrats on your wedding. You were a great player, now be ready to lose 50 points'.
Viswanathan Anand
#55. I go to the gym every day. That tends to taper off when I'm at a tournament. During tournaments, I'm not trying to build fitness. I'm simply trying to keep away any kind of tension. I go for long walks to clear my head.
Viswanathan Anand
#56. If you have a strong opponent, a competition is stimulating. I am generally most open to ideas when I have had a bad result. In chess, too, players specialise. This specialty then becomes an entry barrier.
Viswanathan Anand
#57. For me, chess is not a profession, it is a way of life, a passion. People may feel that I have conquered the peak and will not have to struggle. Financially, perhaps that is true; but as far as chess goes, I'm still learning a lot!
Viswanathan Anand
#58. In Gujarat, we had the world record of largest number of chess games in a single venue - 20,500 - and in Tamil Nadu, I have been emphasizing on the positives of chess to the authorities.
Viswanathan Anand
#59. I love travelling and going on wildlife safaris. I have an interest in astronomy. I like reading on current affairs, business and science. I love doing nothing if I can help it.
Viswanathan Anand
#60. India has lot of talent. What I am happy with is that the talent keeps on coming. Certainly it could be nice, though I am not terribly keen on seeing my successor yet.
Viswanathan Anand
#61. There are some aspects of work you need to keep working on and no matter what environment you are in. Continuous learning is very important. It's what I call 'competitive tension', which is about having a competition around.
Viswanathan Anand
#62. I have a love for astronomy; Aruna, my wife, and I love travelling, so whenever we get an opportunity, we set off to explore places that have tickled our interest. We are also wildlife enthusiasts.
Viswanathan Anand
#63. Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it
Viswanathan Anand
#64. For me, each game is a new challenge, which has to be dealt with rationally and systematically. At that time, every other thought fades into oblivion.
Viswanathan Anand
#65. Professional players work almost every day, for hours on end, and the emphasis is on the word 'work.' It can be with a partner or it can be alone, but professional chess is always a pursuit of something new and surprising.
Viswanathan Anand
#66. Sometimes an opponent stops breathing, and you realise something drastic has happened and they are trying not to let on. Or they go quiet, or they get fidgety. After a while you pick these things up and become more alert to them.
Viswanathan Anand
#67. I like to keep myself physically and mentally fit before any important match. I usually take a short nap just before the game and do not practice immediately before the tournament.
Viswanathan Anand
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