The World Champion plays an aggressive game in front of the chess board and tries to steer clear of the politics in the world of pawns and kings
WHY WE DID THE STORY: In 2010, Viswanathan Anand became the world chess champion by defeating Veslin Topalov in trying circumstances. In many ways, Vishy Anand’s is an extraordinary tale of a shy, self-effacing child prodigy whose aggressive style has been reshaped by time and experience into a calm, gentlemanly and matter-of-fact winning strategy. Over the last 25 years, Anand has seen his career run into a number of roadblocks, but each time he has risen above the manipulative politics that bogs down the world of chess and also the doubts and insults heaped on his successes. Our story was an attempt to understand the mind of this champion. To take a step back and understand what makes him succeed, what goes through his head in the darkest hour of failure and what it takes to make a comeback on the world stage. This story provided us insights on how to help us improve our lives.
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(This story appears in the 03 June, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)