Viswanathan Anand: For being India's beloved Grandmaster

'I feel extremely proud that we as a country have come of age'

August 11, 2008

In Mexico City when I stood on the podium (after winning the World Chess Championship last year) and they played the national anthem, I did feel a lump in my throat. At that moment you see invisible faces, applause and silent prayers from back home. It is a moment that you can never recreate but never forget. I feel extremely proud that we as a country have come of age.

We don't give excuses anymore and are quite proud to say we are like this only. We seem to attract headlines for the latte foaming at the cities's cafes rather than cows that was our star attraction of the 1980s in the foreign media.

We have seen Indian companies rub shoulders with their bigger colonial cousins and usurp them. We are also slowly becoming mildly serious about sport. This is all very good.

We are also going through some trying times in India. We have seen innocent people being killed for a hidden private agenda. We still have worrying statistics about children's health in India. HIV is still a silent killer.

When we talk about the famed India story we need to go beyond the steel and glass and maybe see the smoke on the other side of the bridge. But we are an ingenious lot. I have seen villagers take to computers and use the Net. We are a young lot and we have to go beyond the script to make it.

As the Olympics begin, I am keenly waiting to see my fellow colleagues stand on that podium with the Indian tri-colour. I myself am preparing for my World Championship match (against Vladimir Kramnik) in October and have been hearing about how Russia is keen to get back the crown.

Well, I take a deep breath, will play my best and believe in myself. Because in a way that is the Indian in me -- spiritual or fatalistic -- but play according to your rules that make you proud.

Abhinav Bindra made Olympic history for India. On Monday the Chandigarh shooter won the gold medal in the men's ten metre air rifle event. The medal is India's first-ever individual gold, and the first gold medal the country has won since 1980. Indians joyously greeted the news, which has resulted in an outpouring of national pride.

• Interview in Redif News ndia

  
  Impressions from the Final of the Chess Classic event in Mainz

Regarding the Chess Classic and the Rapid Chess World Championship in Mainz (where Anand beat Magnus Carlsen in the final) we have some statistics. The number of spectators on the seven days was 300, 350, 300, 550, 800, 1050, 750, numbers that contrast very favorably with other events where sometimes the number of players exceeds that of the spectators. One must also remember that Mainz was competing for public attention and participants at the Ordix Open with the Grand Prix in Sochi, the Junior World championship in Gaziantep, Biel, Krasnoturinsk, Pardubize, Dresden and Villarobledo. In spite of this the Ordix Open attracted 693 participants.