A Message From World Chess Champion, Vishy Anand, To Be Learnt

Vishy Anand

The World Chess Champion

GiLoCatur found an interesting article about the reigning World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand from India, who wants to be numero uno again in the FIDE world rankings here.

Anand, however, said his career is far from over. "Retiring from the sport has not crossed my mind and it is the last thing I can think of. I am only 40 and I will play as long as I can and enjoy playing. Right now I am focused and looking forward to the chess season."

GiLoCatur hopes all Malaysian chess junior players will have similar spirit and determination of a world champion like in the above article excerpt. The key point is enjoy playing the chess. Never give up to achieve something and to excel. Need to be focused and look forward for chess tournaments.

"We have about 8000 chess clubs, encompassing a million students across the country. The idea is to cover as many schools as possible. I am confident that if the 'Mind Champions' program is implemented properly, India will be the foremost chess nation once again," added Anand.

What we can learn or follow from the above Anand's statement?

1. Chess Clubs - active ones of course, are very important and crucial for a country to propel in chess. How many do we have in Malaysia? How many are active? Have the chess clubs in Malaysia get the proper support and assistance?
2. Schools play the important role in developing chess. A SIMPLE FACT. Need to outreach and cover as many schools as possible. How about in Malaysia? How many schools are active in chess? We need more schools like MBSS, SJK(C) Kepong, SK Jenjarom and SK Bukit Jelutong. What efforts have been done to promote chess in schools? Have chess associations and schools, education offices i.e. PPDs (District Education Offices), JPNs (State Education Departments) and KPM (Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia) work hand in hand in developing and promoting chess?
3. Chess development programs MUST be implemented properly for Malaysia to be in the world chess map. What chess developments programs do we have in this country? Do the responsible authorities and parties have such programs or plans?

TO ALL THE MALAYSIAN CHESS COMMUNITY, FRATERNITY & SOCIETY - PLAYERS, COACHES, PARENTS, PENGERUSI TEKNIK CATURS, SCHOOL CHESS CLUB TEACHERS, ARBITERS, ORGANIZERS, CHESS ASSOCIATIONS AND CHESS BLOGGERS AS WELL, LET'S THINK, PLAN, FORMULATE AND, VERY IMPORTANT, TAKE ACTIONS FOR THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND CHESS DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA.

GiLoCatur Met GM Negi!

What an encounter GiLoCatur had on Monday afternoon at around quarter to 4.00pm. Yes, GiLoCatur met with one of Indian young chess talents and prodigies, GM Negi Parimarjan in person. Just yesterday, GiLoCatur wrote an entry about him. SO UNBELIEVABLE! Even GiLoCatur had a chance to have a short and spontaneous interview with him together with Hairulov and his Nusa Mahkota teammate, Aziz.

GiLoCatur (right) with GM Negi Parimarjan from India.

The wonderful moment GiLoCatur recorded with a picture with him. Surely, meeting a chess wonder kid like him who holds the record of being the second youngest ever to be granted a GM title before he was 14 years old is a great moment for a chess lover and fan like GiLoCatur.

A renown Malaysian chess blogger, Mr Hairulov of http://hairulovchessmaniacs.blogspot.com/, interviewing GM Negi Parimarjan who is participating in the 6th edition of Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open held in Cititel Hotel.

Below are some of the interview questions (not in order):

GiLoCatur : Which game do you prefer? rapid or classical?

GM Negi : Classical

GiLoCatur : How many Grandmasters India currently has?

GM Negi : ... about 20 ... 19 ...

Aziz : When did you start playing chess?

GM Negi : When I was about 4 years old.

Hairulov : Who is your chess idol?

GM Negi : Viswanathan Anand

Hairulov : Do you know Mas Hafizul?

GM Negi : Yes. I played him twice before. I lost one then I drew one.

(GiLoCatur does not put all the interview questions as to let Hairulov write about them.)

Actually, GiLoCatur, from an observation, was amazed with the fact that GM Negi has a very sharp memory (isn't this very important to a chess player?). And also he seems well prepared with questions like that. He could remember well how many times he has played with his opponent, in this case our own IM Mas. Even he knows well his opponent as he is very aware of the International Master (IM) title Mas Hafizul holds (Doesn't this tell that he makes well preparation for his game and opponent). He also knows how many GMs his country has.

In fact, the answer of 19 is surely correct. India has as July 2009, 19 Grandmasters. Do you know who is India's first Grandmaster? The answer is non other than the world champ himself, Viswanathan Anand. And how many Woman Grandmasters does India have? The answer is 11 and 17 WIMs are attempting to become one. (Mr Google has led GiLoCatur to this indianchess.blogspot link). GiLoCatur believes if we ask our young chess players how many IMs, FMs, or WIMs our country has, many might not give the correct answer.

Aziz also took the opportunity to have a picture with the future world champion ... who knows!

Best of luck! from GiLoCatur to GM Negi Parimarjan in the tournament and hope to enjoy his visit in Malaysia. Getting into round 5 on Tuesday morning at 9.00am, GM Negi is currently ranked 15th after four rounds with 3 points after winning the first two rounds and drew both the third and fourth rounds. He will play black on the sixth board againts WIM Zhang Xiaowen, the 25th seed in round 5.

Terima kasih or Thank you for spending your valuable time having pictures and short interview with us.