The Way To World Crown

VISWANATHAN ANAND'S way to the world crown began in l975. Much of the way he followed from the time he became the Asian Junior Champion in 1984 and the World Junior Champion in l987, is remembered. But few recall how Madras laid the foundations for Anand's march to the top but also for the city becoming the chess capital of India.

Solar K. S. Subramanya Iyer of the Ramani Press in Mylapore and the Chennapuri Andhra Maha Sabha, by the Town Hall (the Victoria Public Hall) in Park Town, may have been the chief centres of the game in the l930s and 40s, but while both tried to increase the numbers playing in their premises, there was little effort to develop it as a major competitive sport. That effectively began with the emergence of one Madras player who was to dominate the Indian chess scene in the Fifties and Sixties. Today, 65-year old Manuel Aaron, nine times National Champion and India's first International Master in l96l, is less known in the wider world than his son Arvind Aaron, who has covered extensively in print Anand's exploits during the last few years. It was the Burma- born, Indian Bank-employed Aaron Senior's achievements that particularly caught the attention of chess fans and his Inter- Zonal match against Purdy of Australia that inspired a generation of chess players in Madras.

The founding of the Madras District Chess Association in 1970 and the sponsorship by the Soviet Cultural Centre the same year of the Tal Club that gave this generation a chance to play more competitive chess, were the impetus the game needed. But it was to be eight more years before Madras produced the country's next two International Masters, V.Ravikumar and V.Ravisekhar. Chess played at a higher level, however, was now on its way.

Ever since the Tal Club was founded, every chess player from in and around the city has benefited as much from friendly matches and the lightning chess competitions played there as they have from its chess library, which, besides a wealth of chess books and magazines, offers publications from the numerous Tal Clubs round the world.

The Tal Clubs, named after the l960 world champion Mikhail Tal, have done more to spread the Russocentric game around the world than any other institution. It was at the Tal Club in Madras that, encouraged by players and administrators like Manuel Aaron, Anand as a child honed his game by participating almost daily in speed chess. While lauding Anand's achievements, the Indian chess world and its fans might spare a thought or two for Manuel Aaron who put Indian chess on the modern world chess map and the Tal Club, Madras, that helps keep producing champions.

Category: Articles , Chess