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MEMORIES
OF 1995
SEPTEMBER
19, 2001
INDIA
CHESS DIARY
By
V KRISHNASWAMY
|
V. Krishnaswamy was one of the handful of Indian journalists at the World
Trade Centre, when Viswanathan Anand played Garry Kasparov in 1995. As he
watched the Twin Towers burning and then collapsing, memories of that great
Autumn of 1995 flashed through his mind. He shares those memories with all
those who share the grief of the Americans, who are now trying to recover
from a terrible tragedy.
IT WAS six years to the day. September 11, 1995 was when the New York
City Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, made a symbolic move to signal the start
of a World Chess Championship match between India’s pride Viswanathan
Anand, and Garry Kasparov, unarguably the best chess history has known,
at one of the most spectacular venues in the world, the World Trade Centre.

On September 11, 2001 heartless terrorists blew up that spectacular piece
of man-made structure, the ultimate symbol of market-driven America. They
called the World Trade Centre, the “Top of the World” and for
us, a handful of Indian journalists in attendance for the match, it was
“Half-way to Heaven” for Anand had traversed an arduous path
through a maze called the Candidates Cycle to set up a clash with Kasparov.
But for a handful of barbarians, it was a one-way ticket to Hell as they
flew their hijacked planes into the Twin Towers of WTC.
In 1995, Giuliani’s amateurish first move was 1.c4, which once the
TV cameras were switched off, Anand corrected to a preferred 1.e4. Wish
we could do the same, switch off the TV screens and reverse what the barbarians
have done.
Chess may have been the sport Indians were said to have to given to the
world but for Indian media, Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov fighting
for a world title and prize purse of US $1.5 million, was still secondary
– maybe even further down the list – to cricket.
Despite being a regular chess journalist, I had to apply for leave to
go for the event. The paper I then worked for did not see it fit to cover
the event. So I used up all my privilege leave, and went to partake of
history. I covered the event surreptiously for a news agency – reports
from whom my paper used – and an Indian TV Channel to cover my expenses.
Sure, there was always the worry – aggravated by some colleagues
– that my erstwhile employer might get to know of it, but the sheer
thrill of being part of the historic event made up for all it. Six years
on, I am glad I did it.
My wife joined me later during the match with our new born son, who I
had named after Anand as the chess superstar. During the course of the
match, I took my wife and son to watch the more famous Anand in action.
And need I say though chess pieces still did not hold much attraction
for the my Anand, he enjoyed himself thoroughly at the spectacular sights
from the Observation Deck on the 107th floor. Alas, there is no WTC.
The author, Vishy Krishnaswamy, and his son, Anand, named after the Indian
chess super star. These pictures at the World Trade Centre's Observation
Deck, was taken a few days before Anand Krishnaswamy celebrated his first
birthday.
UNFORGETTABLE MATCH DESPITE ANAND’S LOSS
SOME years back, Anand had told this writer, that he had “deleted
the New York match” from his memory, which is no different from a
huge “hard disk” in a super computer. But it is doubtful if
he could forget that match, as he and his family watched a “Reality
Horror Show” on TV that evening. Anand was at home Chennai, taking
a break to spend a few weeks with his parents. The rest of the year, he
spends pushing pieces on a chessboard around the world and preparing at
his European base, near Madrid in Spain.
The terrorists who had wiped out the Twin Towers of WTC had done more
than “deleted” a bad match for Anand. They had shaken the world.
During the match, more than once the WTC bombing of 1993 had figured
in conversations. And when terrorists re-created a Hollywood-like scenario
and rammed two planes in a span of 18 minutes to wipe out that symbol,
it was hard not to think of happier days, when things as simple as a chess
match gave us so much pleasure.
It must have been the same for Anand, Kasparov and all those who were
there at the WTC, four days a week for nearly six weeks that the match
lasted, it must have been a nightmare as the TV screens flashed images
of the Towering Infernos and the inevitable chess images of September
1995 must have been juxtaposed in each our memories.
IDEAL SETTING AND TOO MUCH WAS HAPPENING AROUND
Circa 1995, the Observation Deck at the 107th floor of the WTC provided
the ideal setting for a world title match. A championships to be decided
on “Top of the World”. It could happen only in America and only
in New York. Spectacular and so very American, that’s what the WTC
was. A melting point for people from across the globe, a must-see for
every visitor to New York and a landmark like no other in the world. The
Observation Deck was 400 metres up in sky, and from up there we peered
through glass windows at the world’s most powerful financial center,
the Wall Street. Down on the streets they sold souvenirs and dreams.
Non-chess playing spectators paid US$ 15 to come to the experience the
magnificient view from the Deck. They paid quarters and dimes to look
at the city and identify their homes and hotels in New Yorks through the
binoculars strategically placed at various windows. The café and
the snack bars on the 107th floor were the “Windows to the World”.
To those who came to see the world from the top, the chess match going
on was a bonus. Chess as a sport was nothing compared to NBA and NFL.
Chess reports were featured in the city pages of New York Times, written
by that doyen Robert Byrne, who once played against Bobby Fischer.
That autumn, the front and back pages were dominated by OJ Simspon, the
infamous chase and the trial that followed. The chase, as Anand recollected
this week was something he remembered from the time he played Oleg Romanishin
in one of the earlier PC matches in Trump Plaza in New York.
On September 25, as Anand laid low Kasparov in Game 9 after a series
of eight draws, Hindus around the world queued outside Ganapathi Temples
as word spread that Stone idols were ‘drinking’ milk. It was
a story that vied with the infamous Simpson chase for space on front pages.
But chess was still inside on city pages. But for Indians, it may as well
have been written in the skies.
TOO GOOD A SIGHT TO MISS
CHESS on the Observation Deck, was just too good to miss, even for those
who couldn’t differentiate a bishop from a knight. If the tourists
paid US $15 for a glimpse of the world from the top, the chess lovers
paid five times that amount to see the match itself. And what did they
see? Two players enclosed in a soundproof glass room in eerie silence.
The soundproofing was hardly as good as it was supposed to be, with one
or the other players mentioning they could heard voices of spectators
and even the commentators, Maurice Ashley and Daniel King, who provided
live comments.
Chess had never commanded such attention in America since Bobby Fischer
beat Boris Spassky in icy Reykjavik in 1972 to become the first American
world champion. Spassky interestingly dropped in for a few days during
the match, as did the legendary Miguel Najdorf, who when denied entry
at the door of WTC, told the watchman, “Tell Garry (Kasparov) I am
here. He will come down.”
Word was sent up that a certain, Mr. Najdorf was down there. Organisers
rushed down to receive Najdorf, after whom one of the most well-known
variations in Sicilian defence is named, as the Sicilian-Najdorf variation.
When Anand played a brilliant and innovative move in the drawn eighth
game, Najdorf was at the venue to applaud the Indian champion.
Najdorf, a millionaire businessman apart from being a great chess player,
died in 1997, and last week when terrorists were razing the WTC, Anatoly
Karpov was resurrecting his sagging career by winning the Najdorf memorial
tournament in Buenos Aires.
EIGHT DRAWS IN A ROW AND THEN ANAND EXPLODES
There was so much happening that autumn that it is hard not to think
of all that. Eight games had been drawn in a row, and the visitors were
hardly pleased. Americans, who couldn’t understand a draw at the
end of a six hour match, were bewildered at such a sequence.
Then came the ninth game, when Anand faced Kasparov’s Sicilian defence.
After the first 12 moves, which mirrored a similar match between Kasparov
and Karpov, which the former had won in 1985 to become the youngest world
champion in Moscow, Anand threw in a stunning rook sacrifice for a knight.
Kasparov accepted it after eight minutes of thinking, half the time the
terrorists gave between striking the two towers at WTC. And then in a
matter of minutes, in the manner WTC in 2001, Kasparov’s position
collapsed. He resigned after move 35 and Anand led 5-4.
BFORE the match, Anand had engaged a team of seconds to help him out
for the match against Kasparov. The team was formidable, Arthur Yusupov,
Elzibar Ubilava, Jon Speelman, and Patrick Wolff and for three months
worked for almost ten hours a day for three months at Anand’s European
base near Madrid.
Meanwhile Kasparov worked with Yuri Dokhoian, Evgeny Pigusov, and Vladimir
Kramnik, who in years to come would become his adversary across the board.
His mother, Klara, was the “head” of the team.
KASPAROV STRIKES BACK
There is the belief that Kramnik, then still upcoming, was one who came
up with the stunning sacrifice, which lay low Anand in Game 10, and which
started the slide for the Indian in the match. Kasparov moved into top
gear as he won Games 11 and 13 and drew Game 12 after a tense tussle.
In five games between Game 10 and 14, Anand managed just one measly draw
as Kasparov ran amuck with four wins to lead 8.5-5.5. Anand was smiling
alright, but those around him knew he was lost.
Game 14 was probably the defining moment in the match. Anand, realizing
he had to win to stay in with a chance, fought ferociously with black
pieces. The Indian had worked a clear advantage when Kasparov offered
a draw. Anand refused. Then Kasparov came up with some brilliant play,
and soon forced Anand on the backfoot and finally into resigning after
38 moves. It was like a boxing match. It was a great game, but sadly Anand
lost. The knowledgeable at the WTC realized and they applauded the players
in the manner of a scorer of a World Series final.
Four draws followed and only in Game 17, which was the longest of the
series played till 63 moves, did Anand have a chance to win. He missed
it. The draw allowed Kasparov to reach 10 points, which assured him of
a title. A 12-move draw in Game 18 brought the curtains down as Kasparov
went through 10.5-7.5.
The match over, Kasparov was crowned king yet again. Anand lost, but
as usual left smiling. As critics and fans wondered whether Anand would
recover from the mauling, the Indian in his heart of hearts knew, it was
only a game and only a match he had lost.
Six years on, Anand is still around, smiling as ever. Kasparov is still
around, with his grouses against the world intact. But what we don’t
have are the Twin Towers of World Trade Centre. They may re-build the
towers, if only to show the terrorists that human spirit can never be
crushed, but the landscape of our memory is forever scarred.
The writer can be contacted at swamy007@vsnl.com
or v_krishnaswamy@yahoo.com