Viswanathan Anand brings home the world champion once again, after having drawn the 11th game against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn yesterday.Anand now has the rare distinction of being one of the four players to have won the world title for the third time. Since World War II, only Russians Mikhail Botvinnik, Anatoly Karpov and Garri Kasparov have managed to strike gold thrice.
Great job
India should, therefore, be doubly proud. News reports quote his father as saying that "it was a lone battle Anand had fought. Today, he has the entire nation behind him".
That is true he's done a great job and we're truly proud. Not just about the win but about the way Anand has conducted himself over two decades now.
Early start
The 'Tiger from Madras', who learned to play the game at the age of 6, made the entire nation sit up with his chess acumen. At the age of 13, he won the junior title in India, and at 16, the senior chess title.
But despite all those achievements, there's been none of the arrogance that India's cricketers are known for.
There hasn't been the kind of attitude that the men in blue unwittingly display sometimes as if they are doing the country a favour by playing for India. There's just that quiet perseverance, that complete focus on the game and not even that why-are-the-cricketers-feted-more-than-me petulance that other sportspersons in India can sometimes decend to.
I's not just a win for the country that gave chess to the world. It's a win for true sportsmanship â everywhere.
