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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.

Viswanathan Anand

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Viswanathan Anand
Age: 54
Born: 1969
Born: December 11
Chess Player
Writer
Madras
Vishwanathan Anand
First
Developed
Needs
Chess
Even
Skills
Make
Anyone
Never
Social
Would
School
Schooling
Firsts
Suggest
Need
Drop

More quotes by Viswanathan Anand

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Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it
Viswanathan Anand
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Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina, and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport. Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes.
Viswanathan Anand
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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.
Viswanathan Anand
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The Internet gives you access to a lot of material, and it's fun to sit and read. I go to something like Wikipedia and look at different topics... I find the subject fascinating. I like to read about concepts and mathematicians.
Viswanathan Anand
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It is important that you don't let your opponent impose his style of play on you. A part of that begins mentally. At the chessboard if you start blinking every time he challenges you then in a certain sense you are withdrawing. That is very important to avoid.
Viswanathan Anand
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Preparedness for a game that usually lasts four-five hours requires good physical condition and also steady nerves.
Viswanathan Anand
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Being the undisputed world champion is a relief. We instituted a unified chess title, I am the absolute world champion.
Viswanathan Anand
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Each match I approach like a new one. The work is so immense that you don't have time to sit and ponder.
Viswanathan Anand
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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.
Viswanathan Anand
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When I was about six, I saw my elder siblings play chess and pestered my mother into teaching me. Very soon, I was beating everyone at home, and they thought it would be good to join a club. So my sister would take me to the Tal chess club on Thursdays and weekends.
Viswanathan Anand
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There are some aspects of work you need to keep working on and no matter what environment you are in. Continuous learning is very important. It's what I call 'competitive tension', which is about having a competition around.
Viswanathan Anand
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In any match, there are few critical moments where there's no second best decision. The rest of the moves are intuitive.
Viswanathan Anand
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My parents were very supportive of my chess. When I got home after a game of chess, having missed school or something, they always made me feel very welcome I didn't feel guilty at all about pursuing chess with such fervour. They never, for instance, perceived sports as a rival to academics.
Viswanathan Anand
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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'.
Viswanathan Anand
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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.
Viswanathan Anand
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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.
Viswanathan Anand
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Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against. (on the 2013 World Championship match)
Viswanathan Anand
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I keep forcing, I keep learning new things in the game, and so far I have been taking challenges as they come.
Viswanathan Anand
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Just before a game, I try to keep a clear mind so that I can focus better. I'm the kind of person who plays fast and relies a lot on intuition, so being at peace with myself is vital. Saying my daily prayers helps me achieve this heightened state of mind.
Viswanathan Anand
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I think the draw quotient has always been high in world championship matches because the amount of effort people put into neutralizing each other's openings. It's just now with computers that it has reached a new level.
Viswanathan Anand