Viswanathan Anand: Was determined to win despite infection

Viswanathan Anand

If Viswanathan Anand was groggy but good in his first outing for the Mumbai Movers a month back then in the crucial knock-out encounter against Delhi Dynamites late last night he was drowsy but dangerous. Fighting a terrible viral infection Anand may not have been at his devastating best but there was none who came close to breaching his defensive barriers nor was there anyone who could put up the barricades when he was on the aggressive side.

Anand had been in Moscow where he won the Tal Memorial Rapid tournament and just had returned back. The Mumbai Movers owned by Rishi Gupta have now stormed into the top eight in the World's biggest online league, the Pro-Chess league 2018 after defeating the only other Indian team in fray, the Delhi Dynamites by an 8.5-7.5 score. Anand dropped anchor in this knock-out round, holding both former World junior Champions Pentala Harikrishna, the second ranked Indian behind him and Abhijeet Gupta. He effortlessly scored expected victories against Tania Sachdev and Hemant Sharma to notch 3/4 points. In a candid chat with Manisha Mohite Anand recounts the highs and lows of the four rounds which finished early Wednesday morning.

On the performance of Mumbai Movers yesterday night
Anand: It was a close affair, one which was decided by the last game. It was a fabulous performance by the team. Vidit clinched a brilliant victory in the last game against Abhijeet Gupta while Diptayan too rose well to the occasion with two creditable draws against Harikrishna and Gupta. Parnali's two draws against higher ranked opponents, too mad e a difference. In fact a very good job by the Team.

Fighting opponents on board and a viral infection off board?
Anand: Thankfully the worse was over by Monday so I was able to play despite feeling drowsy. I was not in top shape but it does not mean that you don't give your best. I was worried playing in this drowsy state but determined to do my best.

How do you look at your four games yesterday?
Anand: The two wins were good and the draw against Gupta did not have many exciting moments. It was a solid line and there was nothing much in the position to explore, hence a quick draw. The last game against Harikrishna however was a topsy- turvy one. I always thought that I was better off but could never see the resource to clinch it. Once I was sure that Vidit was headed for a victory, I offered a draw to Hari.

Cruising comfortably in first round, the third round was disastrous. Was there any Team strategy in place?
Anand: We were leading by 5-3 score after two rounds, I thought we had everything under control but a dramatic 1-3 reversal in the third round brought the Match alive. Vidit went haywire in time trouble, Diptayan too suffered an unexpected loss. There was not much of Strategy in place. We were almost going by whatever happens sort of thing. Thankfully everyone pitched in and we could scored the much needed 2.5 points needed to advance to the Division Finals.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates