Did better, no regrets this time, looking ahead: Anand

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 20

After losing the World Championship match for the second time in as many years to Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand isn’t pondering over the loss. He’s looking ahead with hope and optimism, and, despite the loss, he feels he has had a good year. The chess legend opens up to The Tribune in a candid chat on his visit to the Capital for an event organised by the NIIT.

Excerpts:

How do you look at the current year, in which you won three titles, including London Classic?

2014 was great because of some good results. I got my appetite for the game back. I’ve understood it’s hard to fake positivity. If you get good results, you don’t have to fake it. I felt positive about chess and played the game better. The Candidates win opened up the whole year for me. After losing to Carlsen at the World Championship (WC) in Chennai, I was simply hoping for one good result. I was sick of having to explain bad results to everyone.

You lost to Carlsen again in the WC, though you played better this time. How would you sum it up?

I wasn’t able to grab my chances. I had my openings in the match, but things did not pan out as planned. Nobody is happy losing, neither am I. Having said that, I am not going to sit back and think about it. You can kill yourself looking for an answer, but for me the game is finished and it’s not coming back. In general, I feel more positive and there’s no need to look at the past. This time, I really felt that I did a decent job, gave the title a good shot. There were no regrets this time as was the case in 2013, when I was not able to put up a fight.

When you lost to Carlsen, a lot of people started talking about your future. How long do you intend to carry on?

When there’s so much negativity around you, you just need to lock that out. I tried to do things which make me happy. It was not like me I was in a state of mental breakdown. People just want to remember that particular loss against Carlsen, but, come on, I have won three titles as well. If you ask about my future plan, I have not put a deadline as such. Last year, when critics had started writing me off, I had told to myself ‘Why am I even thinking about quitting the game’? I still have few years to give to chess.

Have you made peace with the thought that you are no longer the World champion?

Honestly, if you ask me 100 per cent, than I would say no. Even before that championship had come to an end in Chennai, I had probably realised that I am not the champion any more.