RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by srinivasan mv on May 25, 2007 10:17 AM Permalink
Guys you do not understand what this Chess game is all about. If one plays a game with JM or Atlantis or anybody he does not get a score in his rating. And bye the way, what does he woe to Indian Government or the people . It is all his personal choice for the game and his hard work all through. If at all he has anything to reciprocate it is for his parents and his family members he has to thank.
Guys, you are all jealous about his achievements. If you are all like this, you will never grow up.
RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by Atlantis on May 23, 2007 10:13 PM Permalink
He is returning to India because now, he's milked his stay in europe. Now, he wants to make the best of the chess scene here... it will be a small wonder if he ties up or at some point starts taking over the all india chess federation. He maybe a good player but he has only played for himself. He can never be in the class of Kasparov or even Karpov, Topalov and Kramnik. While Kramnkik was leading his team from the front in the last olympiad, anand chose to miss the first round because of his 'personal' tournament engagement bringing in more dollars. Then, how come, his team performances are ALWAYS below par. Time we blew the myth. Move over Anand, make way for the kids...
RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by JM on May 23, 2007 11:01 PM Permalink
EXACTLY!! Thank you Atlantis!! Thanks for the one message that does not stink of hero-worship or un-objective banter.
Anand is nodoubt a great Chess player, but instead of hero-worshipping him lets look at both sides of the story!
RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by Bernie on May 24, 2007 03:35 AM Permalink
I guess I should know better than come in the middle when morons and empty pots make noises. But I am taking a chance here. Obviously the two of you know nothing about chess, do not follow strong Super GM tournaments and definitely do not know how ratings work in chess. Unlike in Cricket, Soccer and most other games, in Chess, earning rating points is very difficult. To become a Super GM, one has to perform consistently for years %u2013 which Anand has done exemplarily well for two decades. So if a player as strong as Anand plays in a rated tournament where his opponents are much weaker than him, he would have to have an almost a perfect score to maintain his rating. And this is not at all easy if you have played in any fairly-conducted chess tournament.
Now coming to your comment of Anand not playing in Olympiad for India... First of all, Anand has played for India in Olympiad (agreed, not frequently). But the reason is, even if he plays and wins games, because his team mates may lose, the team and hence he would still be paired with a player quite weaker than him every round. This would mean that even if Anand wins 60% of his games in the tournament, he might still lose his hard-earned ELO points. Let me give you two examples of this. Topalov, in the recently concluded Mtel Masters won the tournament, but lost rating points. That was because his opponents were quite lesser than him in ELO rating. Second example happened to Anand himself. In 2006 Olympiad, which happened right after a major and a tiring tournament Anand drew all his games (mind you, he did not lose even a single game) owing to fatigue and eventually in a single tournament lost a whopping 25 ELO points. At his strength it may take up to 4 to 5 tournaments to gain so many ELO points, but it is easy to lose them in just one. Thus owing to tight international schedule, training schedule, preparatory camps and such it is extremely difficult to squeeze in Olympiad in the yearly calendar of a Super GM.
All these reasons preclude all major Top 20 Super GMs from playing for their country every year. None of Kasparov, Karpov, Kramnik, Topalov, Leko, Judit Polgar, Ivanchuk, Morozevich and other slightly older Super GMs have been able to take part in Olympiad. It is just plain almost next to impossible to (1) Maintain the rating (2) Sneak Olympiad in their tight calendars. (3) Beat the fatigue (4) In any case, at the end of the day, Chess is an individual game. So it doesn%u2019t matter whether Anand plays as a team or plays as himself; he still plays for India. I am sure every person who knows a little about chess will agree with my comments.
Next your allegation of Anand not being able to win against Topalov, Kramnik, Kasparov and Karpov is unfounded. Well, Anand has a plus score against Karpov and Topalov. With Kramnik he has a plus score too owing admittedly to his better rapid game scores. Kasparov in his peak, although, was beating Anand. But the last few years before he retired -- which was when Anand got a lot stronger -- he has barely played Anand. So you must ignore him. And no one needs to give him a certificate. He is the world number 1 now! And all these people you are talking are themselves world number 1. So losing to them is not like losing to you. And consider these too... (1) When Anand came to the scene, there was no GM in India, now there are as many as 10 GMs in his wake. People started looking at chess as a professional career in India only after Anand. He has single-handedly changed the chess scene in India in barely 20 years. (2) Anand is world number 1, with almost no trainers, no seconds, no coaches and no camps compared to all the Super GM Russians. Do you know how many Chess Academies exist/existed in Russia/Soviet Union? (3) Read more about how Russians (former Soviets) tried to have World Champions in Chess only within themselves. (4) Materials that were available to Russians when Anand was in the making were not available to non Russians and Anand made it here despite that. (5) If Anand had training as good Kramnik's, perhaps he would be unbeatable. Anand is a self-made genius and that%u2019s that.
So next time check your facts before you speak too fast because half knowledge is too dangerous. Anand is a patriot probably better than you and me. He has a reason to stay in Europe. He has a reason not to play too often in the Olympiad (actually all Super GMs have the same reason) and that is not selfish.
RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by Rahul Sharma on May 25, 2007 07:18 PM Permalink
Bernie... Khud paka raha hai aur khud hi kaa raha hai.
RE:RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by vani kasiviswanathan on May 24, 2007 12:17 PM Permalink
Excellent, Bernie!! Thanks for this wonderful piece of information. It should clear all doubts of these 'sceptics'. As you correctly pointed out, many who post messages here, do without adequate knowledge of the game and the person. They don't realise that this creates wrong impression in the minds of other people. Media like this being a very powerful medium of knowledge exchange, we should take adequate care before we share our views.
RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by abhijit sarkar on May 24, 2007 01:02 PM Permalink
Well said Bernie!! That is a very good informative post I have seen here on Rediff...
RE:RE:Why does he refuse to represent the Nation?
by Ramkumar Murugesan on May 24, 2007 02:24 PM Permalink
That was one good analysis i have seen on Rediff.
Might be a lesson for all those who abuse others with little knowledge
I am surprised by some of the comments that appear in these columns. Vishy has been living in Spain for many years now, mainly because of nearness to tournaments in Europe where bulk of the championships are held. Travel time is less. But he has always played only under Indian flag. Even now, he is trying to buy a house in his native country, and not in some foreign country.
Once I played a game with him in a simultaneous display that was organised for a social cause with which Vkishy was associated. The warmth that he and his wife brought that evening was fantastic. He is a champ par excellence, probably the only one that we have had for such a long time.
Thanks, Rediff, for writing about him, again. I am so happy that so many persons are discussing this great personality, and this will help many more of us to play this game and prove to the world that we, who started this game, are better than many others who learnt from us.
"Who is Anand? Your long lost cousin?How mch money he makes in chess? I know only Sania Mirza and Sachin Tendulkar " - Indian Sports fan
The Indian fan is the most illitrate in the world. He/She has no idea of sports and it's intricacies. An ordinary player like Sania Mirza is hyped up so much that she has lost complete focus on how to be a professional tennis player.
To top it all they know nothing about Tennis.The Grand Slam is the pinnacle of this sport. You are evaluated on how you perform in the slams. How many indians know this? Dose Mirza have it all to make a presence in the slams? The answer is big no. She is not fit,has a weak serve and the newness is gone as all the players who play against her know this and easily sort her out. They know that they should play to her backhand which is her weakness and step way in to receive her serve which is another weakness and then make her run around the court testing her fitness.We have to accept that she is FAT. Justine Hardnine and ex player Arantxa sanchez are the same height as Mirza but they dont look fat. They are all muscle.
The fans will decry me that i need to shut up and be proud that an Indian has atleast come to this level. But my friends you can support her in the begning but still after 3 years of no show? Agreed that she won a couple of 3rd round matches in some grandslams some 3 years back but what after that? She has been inundated with money way way beyond her wildest dreams. What dose she do with the annual 9 crores in endorsements she earns? Why cant she hire the best tennis mind in the business as coach? Why cant she base herself in florida or europe and train hard to get rid of that fat and tone her muscle? Why cant she work out with state of the art facilities available in the west?
Whats wrong in spending a couple of crores for this purpose? The answer is we indians are greedy to save money. We want our talent to do the work and not the fitness regimn that goes along with that.Martina Hingis came off a long layoff and entered the top 10.She was absent for almost 2 years. But this lady fakes injury every 6 months and dishes out pathetic performance after perfrmance.
And always having a Dad in tow instead of professional support staff is not helping either.We as Indians have supported her during the fist year and a half but after all this exposure to the circuit and all the money in he world and all the star status that goes with it she is still not at the top level. She can never be as she has crossed 20 years of age and thats old by tennis standards.Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17.She is going to dish these kind of first round second round performances in the future too and Rediff and the media is going to go ga ga over her 50th 60th 70th ranking etc fooling the public. She will always be in the limelight coz of the ad's and always make money.
But the illitrate indian fans will support her stating the stale reason that she is indias first woman to play tennis in the slams blah blah blah.
Anju Bobby George won a Bonze in long jump in the WORLD CHAMPIONSHP of athetics and no one remembers that. That was the greatest physical peformance an indian sports person has EVER come in the international stage. Rathore won a silver but that was not as physical as Anjus acheivement. People in india are always equating sports with the money they make like Mirza and Tendulkar. pathetic mentality of the indians towards sports has to change. So first step stop suporting this overrated egoistic arrogant mediocore Mirza.
RE:Anand? Who is he? Indian fans dont know nothing about sports.
by Akram on May 25, 2007 10:47 AM Permalink
dont think every indian is fool, he knows what is right and what is wrong. But his mentality of chalta hai chalne do is wrong.
people are carried away by the fantasy of Cricket and never showed willingness to patronize other sports. Media make crooks and criminals as heros it is a curse on the country.
reaching the top slot is difficult and remaining there is walking in a tightrope.
Vishy Welcome Back Home. IMO. He won't take any other citizenship in his lifetime despite lack of recognition of his huge achievements from & in his own country. He could've taken ANY citizenship he wanted, but he won't.
We are all very proud of you. Keep up the Good work. We all wish you to stick to the No.1 position as long as possible. Thanks Rediff for giving coverage to this one of the greatest sons of India.
A very rare combination of great human being and sportsman with excellent qualities of head & heart. His modesty during success & failures is worthy of emulation. His mother should get all credit for moulding him during his formative years. But I would like to credit Aruna even more for making him an enduring champion. Their sense of humour is evocative. Their interview with Anu Hassan in 'Cofee with Anu' telecast in 'Star Vijay' was a Gold Standard. All luck to Aruna & Anand for achieving greater laurels. Ramachandran
I hope all these rumours that you are leaving Indian citizenship are false.
Anand YOU ARE HOPE FOR MILLIONS. Unlike our stupid cricketers you are real hero.
Please do not leave Indian Flag. We cannot offer you money, we cannot offer you world class facilities, we donot even have any voice but we hope you will not leave us.
All we have is love and respect for you and your family.
Please do not take our joy of having you as our compatriot. a poor Indian
RE:Oh Anand Please donot leave Indian flag
by JM on May 23, 2007 09:11 PM Permalink
India is too big to beg for one guy to remain an Indian citizen, be it Anand or Tendulkar or whoever.
Nobody is bigger than the country and India will never have to beg anyone to remain an Indian citizen.
Dont put your country to shame Ratnesh but writing BS!
RE:Oh Anand Please donot leave Indian flag
by Narayan on May 23, 2007 09:24 PM Permalink
Just put ur statement the otherway around. India is a micro-mini country as far as Sports is concerned. A country of Singapore & Cyprus is bigger than India in Sports. Mind u.
India don't deserve such a huge genius sportsman in the 1st place and we must learn how to cherish this great human being which we got by his sheer talent and it's not a shame to beg him not to relinquish his citizenship. It's us Indians who are pushing him to the corner by not giving even a basic recognition.
RE:RE:Oh Anand Please donot leave Indian flag
by JM on May 23, 2007 09:48 PM Permalink
So what do you do? Beg people to stay in India? The same was said of Engineers and Scientists few decades back and many of them are back.
Im not saying sportspeople should leave the country, all Im saying is DONT BEG, it will not work. Create an infrastructure that will make sports people want to stay back...now THAT will work.
And who is the brainiac who reported my message for abuse? Indians will never tolerate a different point of view though it is written respectfully. I can understand this behavior by some uneducated cricket-fans but now I know it is not just cricket, Chess fans are also hero-worshippers. We are still carrying our British legacy and we will remain hero-worshippers and beggars.
He is a pure GEM. He is not only a world champion in chess but also a world champion in humility, modesty, intelligence, and politness. I once met him in Dortmund. He and his better half(wife) were so polite and nice that words cannot describe it. I wish all of us would follow him as human being.
Aanand if you read this then I wish to tell you that YOU ARE MY IDEAL IN LIFE.
RE:Anand is a gem
by Narayan on May 23, 2007 08:31 PM Permalink
Well said. He's truly a self-less lone sportsman for India holding our flag aloft. Congrats Vishy.
RE:Anand
by Mayur Gunjal on May 23, 2007 07:20 PM Permalink
Please!!!!!!!!!!!! Anand is planning to shift to another country becoz he is not found scope in India.
Atleast Sachin has proud for his country.
So let dont give lecture on Attitude and Dedication.
RE:Anand
by gokul nath on May 23, 2007 07:37 PM Permalink
If at all he plans to permanently shift to other country, he has no need to play under indian flag. Any nation would be proud to give him citizenship.
RE:Anand
by venkatesh sp on May 23, 2007 07:29 PM Permalink
well - when my office is in gurgaon, it wud be difficult to live in calcutta. perfect sense for him to be in spain as it is easy to travel to participate in tournaments under Indian flag!
RE:Anand
by Bernie on May 24, 2007 07:41 AM Permalink
JM, know your facts. Where did you get that fact? Can you prove it? Don't just write crap! He has always played under Indian flag!
RE:vishy
by mahua choudhury on May 23, 2007 07:16 PM Permalink
Welcome! You are a lesson on attitude and sheer dedication to our greedy fat cats like Sachin, Dravid, Saurav, Yuvraj, et al....
