Exclusive: 'Hope we learn to exercise restraint when this ends' - Viswanathan Anand on life after lockdown, being stuck in Germany and more

The COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out the entire sporting calendar. Sportspersons have been restricted to train indoors with absolutely no uncertainty as to when live-action will resume. Tournaments and sporting events are facing postponement and cancellations in a year which was supposed to be the busiest when sports is concerned. While many athletes have taken this phase to spend time with families, there are others who are stuck in a foreign land.

Five-time world champion and India's first-ever grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand, in an exclusive interview with WION's Sports Editor, Digvijay Singh Deo,opened up about life in and after lockdown, how he is spending his time in Germany, postponement of Tokyo Olympics, online chess with his son and much more…

Digvijay Singh Deo: Anand, I have been speaking to many of India’s best sporting minds asking them about their routine during the lockdown in India. But you are in a village just outside of Frankfurt and completely alone. So to use a chess term you are under check!

Anand: I think I'm just slightly off-centre, to use a chess term. I came to play with my german club and was supposed to play in two matches. one was scheduled for February and went ahead and the other was slotted for the middle of march. I was supposed the catch the flight back home the day after my final match. But my game was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic, and of course, my flight back to India was cancelled. Since then I have just been waiting for updates and as there is nothing else I can do. It's already been a month since that happened and I think it will take at least another 2-3 weeks for flights to resume.of course I would really love to be home with my family, but luckily I'm still able to talk to them. I'm fairly comfortable here in Germany and also have some friends nearby, so my situation could have been worse. but I just can't wait to get back.

DSD: I was chatting with your wife Aruna and she told me this is the same flat where you used to prepare for your World Championship battles. Were you alone back then as well?

Anand:Earlier when I was preparing for the world championship matches, I was staying at this same flat. My team was staying in a nearby hotel, we would often gather to get our work done, so there was a fair amount of social interaction. The chess community in Germany is extremely close-knit. I would call my current situation very intimate rather than being in isolation. On the chess front, I'm getting a lot of practice, which is a positive.

DSD: Of course you are in daily touch with the family back in Chennai but just from what you are reading, how different is the situation in Germany and India where we have a complete lockdown?

Anand: I'm in a small town called Bad Soden, 17 kilometres away from Frankfurt. The population is about 20,000 people and the restrictions are not very strict. Generally, you don't need to be very strict with germans because they are very disciplined. They've been following all the social distancing Guidelines and things are able to function here on a basic level. I'm able to stick to my daily routine. The only information I'm getting about the situation in India is through websites. There have been mentions about India on certain German news channels, but it's very hard to get the full picture from here. I will only be able to gauge the situation properly once I return home.

DSD: Aruna was telling me that you were managing on pretty simple stuff for your food. So are you following any online cooking recipes or is your wife telling you what to make on Skype?

Anand: My friends live next door and they have been very helpful, occasionally they invite me over for dinner. But otherwise, I don't try to make any dish which is complicated. I don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen, so I keep things simple. Some of the restaurants here also open for takeaways, so that's another option I fortunately have. I would say I'm extremely comfortable and all my previous training for tournaments has prepared me very well to live in this flat. So I can't really complain about most things. But this time I really feel I'm stuck.

DSD: Anand, we have been seeing a lot of stuff from across the world on how many people are stuck especially Indians in various parts of the world due to the travel restrictions. Tennis player Sumit Nagal is in Germany too so are you in touch with the embassy about the possibility of being evacuated or are you prepared to wait it out as long as these restrictions are in place?

Anand: The Indian embassy here in Germany has been very helpful with information. Unfortunately what they're telling me at the moment is that is impossible to get back home. So I'll just have to wait for the travel restrictions to be lifted. But they've been very helpful and proactive with information and it's been very easy to communicate with them during these times. In fact only yesterday I got in touch with them to inquire about my visa extension, since I'll have to stay here a little longer, and they sent me all the necessary information and steps to follow to do the needful.
The embassy's Twitter page is also very helpful, it is regularly updated and the information is accurate. Sometimes, you cannot fully trust the information that the media puts out.

DSD: Has this pandemic, which has wiped out the global sporting calendar made us realise how important sport is in our lives. Earlier we sort of had taken a lot of things for granted including sport on a weekend.

Anand: Sport does form an important part of our life. We all have our favourite sporting events marked out in the calendar and look forward to them each year. So it's hard for sports fans to deal with the current situation because a major part of their lives has been suddenly taken away from them. Luckily with chess, certain events can take place online. The good things about these events are that you don't lose anything in terms of sporting excitement and atmosphere. There's been a lot of online chess activity, so that gives us something to follow.

We're also in shock because suddenly I don't know when I'll play my next tournament. It could be in September or October, or maybe even next year. You simply have no way of knowing. Imagine if this crisis would have occurred ten years ago when internet speed and penetration were not what they are today. I wonder how people would have coped with the lockdown. So because of the internet, at least people are able to distract themselves during the day otherwise they would just be sitting idle.

DSD: In many sports Anand we are seeing virtual competitions be it in cycling or motorsports…Is that the way to go to keep fans engaged and also to keep the players sharp through this period of uncertainty?

Anand:Yes, you want to keep your fan engaged. At the end of the day, every sport is a community of people who love that particular game, and this is a good time to reach out to every one of those people. The events can be very simple, but that way you keep the connection alive and the whole community enjoys the activity together.every sport is trying to find some way to get around the crisis

DSD: In Germany, there was talk of the football - Bundesliga - resuming behind closed doors in May but it has been sort of pushed back now. In many sports especially the outdoor ones the atmosphere elevates a match. Should sports which can give so much relief in times like this be played behind closed doors?

Anand:It's only a situation that comes up during emergencies. Everyone admits that sport without fans is not the real thing and the value of it is diminished. Events held behind closed doors can be followed through the internet or television, everyone agrees the situation is far from perfect, but this is a compromise.

It's not only about sport but for life in general. When have we ever faced anything like this? The world has come to an absolute standstill. I remember when I was in my 20s, I used to frequently forget which country I was in because I used to travel so often, but now this crisis has given my a completely new perspective on things. This situation is straight out of a science fiction movie. Whenever you watched those movies, you felt that the plot was too unrealistic, but here we are living that movie.

DSD: When we do come out of this situation and it will take more than a few months for the world to slowly limp back to normal what are the lessons that we should never forget.

Anand: I hope we learn to exercise restraint. The demand to have everything at your fingertips in an instant has certain consequences. I hope we learn to slow things down a little bit. The crisis has been devastating but the air quality in so many cities across the world has improved drastically. For the future, I think all governments should have basic protocol and guidelines ready for a pandemic.if that is not done, then we will face another crisis and the consequences will be terrible. So overall I think we do need to slow down a bit, the world was moving too fast and the virus was able to take advantage of it.

DSD: Who would have imagined no cars on the road, we are seeing animals roaming freely in cities that have forests nearby, this lockdown is doing a lot to control carbon emissions etc. The fact remains if governments want, we can get our act together.

Anand:If tomorrow the restrictions are lifted, I have no doubt that things will go back to the way they were. But over a period of time, if we can learn to live with 90 per cent of the resources we are living with right now, then the situation will be so much better. There are so many things which we just accept as the price for development- traffic, deteriorating air quality. These things are just accepted as the price you have to pay for progress. But if we can slow things down there will be immense benefits to humanity as a whole. I was personally blown away while watching the zebra trotting around in Paris. It's beautiful to see the animals do such things because they have been unable to live with such freedom for generations.
There is so much to learn from this enforced lesson. We always thought it was impossible to slow society down, but now we realise it can be done. Governments are able to shut down entire countries for a certain period of time. Perhaps we need to learn to live with certain restrictions because the benefits are so clear as well.

DSD: The Olympics too have been postponed. You have been a mentor at Olympic Gold Quest for many years now. Many of the sportspersons prepare for 4 years for this one shot at glory. How do they keep their spirits up when faced with a 15-month delay?

Anand:Mentoring is important and we do have to help each other through these tough times, but on the other hand there is no one who has experienced anything like this, so it is difficult to really be a mentor in this crisis. Sometimes life is more powerful than our plans. There is nothing we can do about it, sometimes you just have to accept the inevitable. In terms of preparation for the games, athletes should aim to wipe out these few months and start mentally preparing for the games in March 2021, the same way they were doing so in march 2020. That will help them get back in the groove with the objective of peaking in July. A year is a long time in the career of some athletes and the postponement might deter their chances if doing well, but like I said these things out not in our control.

First, we have to accept the prevailing situation and overcome the circumstances. I think that will happen till July or August. So there is enough time to prepare for the Olympics next year and hopefully, we will be able to communicate with our athletes and address their concerns.

DSD: Staying with the Olympic postponement, has this pandemic also exposed the leadership at many sporting bodies. There has been a lot of criticism of the IOC for putting athletes at risk by asking them to initially continue training.

Anand: I feel not only sporting bodies, but even national governments have been ill-prepared for this pandemic. It's easy to criticise and point fingers, but we must take into account that we have never had a crisis like this. People are always trying to deal with issues with a template of how they overcame similar problems in the past, but this crisis is truly unprecedented. The really difficult thing is to dowhat Wimbledon did. The event got pandemic insurance 17 years ago and for that time they paid their premiums, and now their far-sighted decision is paying dividends.

That leadership shown by Wimbledon was admirable.but otherwise, there is no point in pointing fingers at sporting bodies for their management of this crisis, it won't achieve anything. But it is important to be wary of a situation like this in the future. Pandemics might happen infrequently, but the damage done is extraordinary.even governments must be better prepared for a health crisis like this in the future. Medical facilities must be set up to deal with a massive outbreak like this. Like I said before we must slow down a bit. We can't be chasing profitability all the time. I feel every company will need to set aside some funds for a crisis, all the money can't be distributed among the shareholders. The crisis fund will help in paying the employees their salaries and keeps the organisation alive.this sort of planning will have to enter our ecosystem and we will need more of far-sighted decisions.

DSD: Even in your sport, the Candidates began under the shadow of the coronavirus and then was abruptly ended. FIDE did not come out particularly well through this flip flop. At some point it will resume, how difficult will it be for the players to switch on because you usually enter a tournament with a set mindset and then suddenly it is all upside down. Would it be fair to resume from where it is or start from scratch again?

Anand: The Candidates tournamentshavekicked off and the contestants who are leading will never agree to give up their lead. So I think the tournament will resume from where it stopped. I am not that critical of FIDE. They could have taken the decision even before the tournament in March. If you go back to February, even a lot of world leaders were saying that the situation will improve soon and things will get back to normal. Sporting bodies to follow the line of national governments so the Candidates tournament went ahead. The players were not that endangers since they would have had access to better medical facilities in Russia than in their home towns. The entire tournament would have been in jeopardy if airspace would have shut at the time. I don't think in future any tournament will be held in such a crisis, but that is because we have learnt our lesson and gone through this experience. It is easy to say that the tournament should not have been held altogether.

I don't see how FIDE can put things right. They cannot compensate bothTeimour Radjabov, who withdrew from the event before the start, and the leaders at the same time. This doesn't need a clever diplomat, it's impossible to solve because you cannot satisfy all parties. Sometimes in life, you just have to accept that things happen beyond your control and there is no way back. Even the expectation that everything will be fair and proper, is a sign that we are in control of all events. So nothing can be done sometimes and we just have to accept the circumstances.

DSD: You were doing commentary through the tournament, what do you make of it as things stand?

Anand: I really enjoyed doing commentary, it's the first time i did it and it was great experience. Before it began i was unsure of how to approach it, one approach i could take is speak from the perspective of being a top player and someone who has had success in the game and try to figure every move from the players' point of view. The other approach is that of a pure fan, where you just enjoy the wonderful games on view. So i think eventually i tried to mix those two approaches and enjoyed myself.

The leader-board is not a huge surprise. Maybe the only disappointment is that fabio caruana didn't hit the ground running in the beginning of the tournament. But i'm only saying that because of his strong performances at the end of last year. Having said that. He's still within striking distance and as things stand, the tournament is very competitive. The two leaders- maxime vachier-lagrave and nepomniachtchi are doing well but they are within reach. I enjoyed following the event as a fan because there is no pressure, something you have to deal with as a player. But while i was doing commentary, i also kept putting myself in the players' shoes and that sometimes made me miss playing the game.

DSD: So let me Ask Anand the pundit if he has seen enough at the Candidates to feel that Magnus Carlsen can be challenged by one of the contestants.

Anand: Someone like Maxime Vacherie-Lagrave, only got to know five days before the event that he is playing, and despite being aware of the coronavirus crisis in his native France, he was just desperate to play.so they are constantly willing to challenge themselves to reach next level. Also I think in away they will be stronger for having gone through this experience. The postponements will test the players, but if they are able to keep themselves motivated, then that itself is a kind of training. The World Championships this year will I think almost certainly be postponed to next year and that could have an effect on the players' performances. I don't think any of the participants in the candidates tournament are that far behind magnus carlsen. Carlsen is certainly the strongest player in the world but he can be challenged. Especially if the candidates winner can get a good run of form before the world championships, i think carlsen will be pushed hard.

DSD: My final question to you Anand, your chess skills are legendary but how is Anand the dad as a chess player. You do play online with your son , those are the small joys for you.

Anand:It's hard to play chess with my son, because naturally my player instincts come in and sometimes i want to tell him not to make a particular move. But my wife, Aruna, keeps reminding me that i'm his dad and not his coach. My son is currently playing chess on this website which helps children learn the game, so he successfully climbed the ladder and reached level 10, the toughest grade in the series. But he wasn't able to crack that grade. So he asked me to play from his account t improve his score,so i agreed. But I played three games against the computer and I just couldn't beat it because it was too strong. We often say that computers are smarter than humans, and in this case the statement holds true. So my son was really annoyed when I told him that I wasn't able to win the game for him. But mainly I think playing chess with my son and is just a chance to connect with him. I'm very happy he's playing the game and he's doing very well. When I play against my son, I'm somewhere between a dad and a chess player, because sometimes I can't hep myself and play properly.