A Twinterview with VishytheKing64

This is a synopsis of  an Interview on Twitter conducted by Forbes India, a few days after he had retained the World Championship title against Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Must have for an Anand Fan!

Vishwanathan Anand 


On turning 40 and being called the Lightning Kid: Its not a big deal, I feel the same, just entering your age in places surprises you!

On perceived lack of discipline and systematic thinking among Indian chess players: I think its wrong to generalize about nations, esp. in something so individualistic like chess. I had my years when I drifted and had fun, but eventually I understood that to become world champion I had to get serious. Also, one can learn these skills by working with the right people, so willingness to learn is the main thing.

On the Nice guy image: It was harder to deal with the pressure of not conforming to the cold, clinical image of chess champ in the past! Finally I just became comfortable in my own skin. It is a stereotype though. most chess players are pretty easy going except at the board.

On Self-Confidence as a child: I think confidence ebbs and flows. As I got better, I simply had issues with different players. I mainly worked on my chess.  I think even now I have to remind myself that at the board you have to be confident.

On his Favourite chess piece: If there is one, I would say the knight but i will play the position I have!

Anand's Bestseller on chess

On Kaspaov retiring before Anand could challenge him for the world title again: I thought about it, but life is relentless. within a few months, it was obvious that Topalov had improved a lot and every year, someone else comes along....Aronian, Carlsen, Karjakin and so on. So you have new challenges to face, but it would have been fun to play him again.




Anand also answer questions on his favourite games, ideal time to introduce children to chess, ideal practices before games and some jestful questions too.

You can read the entire Twinterview online at this link

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