As he braces up for the U-shaped table to play chess with 44 players on a pleasant Saturday evening here, Mr Vishwanathan Anand takes a gulp of water. For him, playing chess is as easy as drinking water.
Quite an unassuming person he is, the chess wizard draws out his warm hand with each of the 44 players before he makes first step. As he walks past, he quickly scans the board, makes his next step and on and on.
It was very pleasant and great watching him play. As pleasant as watching Sachin Tendulkar play cricket or listening to Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute.
As his fans and kin of the players watch him with bated breath, Mr Anand defeated all of them. Some of them even resigned after a few rounds.
As ever, he is untouched. A veteran of several international championships, Mr Anand says he wants the tribe grow enormously in the country.
“I would like to take the MindChampions Academy to more schools to attract more and more children to chess. Chess gives children confidence in life and studies found that it helps them in their studies too,” he points out.
The academy he started in association with NIIT covers 6,000 government schools. He has a word of advice for children and those who want to become professional players. “It is important to be physically fit. I generally begin preparations one month before a tournament starts. I usually take the first and last weeks off and undergo rigorous training the remaining two weeks. It also involves physical exercises. You know, international matches get on to your nerves. You need to be physically fit to take the pressure off you while playing crucial matches,” he points out.