Viswanathan Anand Quotes

Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against. (on the 2013 World Championship match)

Confidence is very important - even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake.

If revenge motivates you, go for it! But the main thing is to set your game in order.

Intuition in chess can be defined as the first move that comes to mind when you see a position.

You need to motivate yourself, no matter what-definitely when things are bad, but also when things are good. Or else, you risk becoming complacent.

In any match, there are few critical moments where there's no second best decision. The rest of the moves are intuitive.

I attend to my fitness. I go the gym every day and try to maintain my physical fitness; without that, it is tough to take challenges on the chess board.

For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one.

For me, each game is a new challenge, which has to be dealt with rationally and systematically. At that time, every other thought fades into oblivion.

A win is a win, which is about that particular moment.

There is always the risk of being over-confident when you are preparing to face a weaker player.

Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it

Each match I play is the most important one yet.

When you play with the best in the world, it is important that you not lose focus. You must be fully focused. Even a minor error could result in a massive defeat.

It is very difficult to play a single blitz game! You want to play for a long time. So I tend not to do that anymore.

Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically but you have to find first what you are good at.

Each match I approach like a new one. The work is so immense that you don't have time to sit and ponder.

I keep forcing, I keep learning new things in the game, and so far I have been taking challenges as they come.

I like to keep myself physically and mentally fit before any important match. I usually take a short nap just before the game and do not practice immediately before the tournament.

Before a match, I do not follow any chess news except the games.

There are two aspects to being competitive; one is to do with sports, and the other is about technical skills. Being able to recollect the moves and apply them when necessary is a critical aspect.

I feel that schools and corporates should help the government in popularising sports in the country. Blaming the government for every sporting debacle will not be fair.

My job is to play chess, the game that I love. I achieve what I can in chess. That is what I focus on. Basically, I am always focused on playing the game, and this is important to me.

My practice schedule is not constant and changes a lot and depends on my moods also.

In the knockout tournaments, it's futile to prepare for a grand finale. You may have worked out many strategies for the final. But you may lose in the first round itself.

We want more women players to take up chess. There are few participants at the national level and hope it will grow.

Psychology plays a big part but I always say psychology will only be a differentiator when the players are of equal technical strength.

I would never suggest to anyone that they drop school for chess. First of all even if you can make it in chess, your social skills need to be developed there.

Preparedness for a game that usually lasts four-five hours requires good physical condition and also steady nerves.

I'll take my five positions per second any day, thank you

In a way players at the top should try to promote the game in their own countries as that is the legacy that makes you feel proud. If you have not done that you have failed as a sportsperson.

I love travelling and going on wildlife safaris. I have an interest in astronomy. I like reading on current affairs, business and science. I love doing nothing if I can help it.

I was very lucky that while I was a chess player in a country where chess was not a big deal, I happened to be in the one city where there was a sprouting chess team: Chennai.

I would prefer chess to become part of the Olympic Games. This would also lead to chess become more accepted as a sport in general.

In 1996, the players at the VSB tournament in Amsterdam sent me a card for my wedding with this dedication, 'Anand congrats on your wedding. You were a great player, now be ready to lose 50 points'.

In chess, knowledge is a very transient thing. It changes so fast that even a single mouse-slip sometimes changes the evaluation.

India has lot of talent. What I am happy with is that the talent keeps on coming. Certainly it could be nice, though I am not terribly keen on seeing my successor yet.

When there's an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It's easy that way because then you don't have to worry about anything else.

Being the undisputed world champion is a relief. We instituted a unified chess title, I am the absolute world champion.

I have a love for astronomy; Aruna, my wife, and I love travelling, so whenever we get an opportunity, we set off to explore places that have tickled our interest. We are also wildlife enthusiasts.

I appreciate the support and anyone who takes up a position on my behalf. Especially in matches, this feeling that there are people behind you, gives me a lot of strength.

There is technology where you can watch the match live online and also on TV. If people understood the game, I'm sure we would have a lot of chess fans by now.