Sports autobiographies are always exciting to read and Mind Master is no different even though chess isn’t a traditional “sport” and involves flexing brain muscles over physical ones. Nevertheless, this was a fascinating read straight from the heart and soul of India’s first grandmaster and “Lightning Kid” Vishy, a man who played no small role in rekindling India’s tradition with chess as well as serving as an inspiration for the countless grandmasters in India who’ve followed in his footsteps and chess enthusiasts worldwide.
This book was exactly what I was hoping for. Anand walks us through his life in chess from his early-age interest spurred by his mother all the way until his rise as a champion and his current role as an icon in the chess community fostering the next generation. For a shy youngster in Madras in the pre-internet era to break through barriers and peaks that have never been scaled before with no formal training was no small feat and draws parallels with geniuses like Srinivasa Ramanujan (which he himself alludes to in the book).
There are various aspects I loved about this book. The first was the candidness with which a champion of his caliber spoke about every single aspect of his game in great detail, understanding how a genius mind thinks and giving a true behind-the-scenes look into the mind of a chess master was something I relished reading. The second was the climate in which Anand rose, heavily dominated by Soviet-era players who in the pre-internet era had the dominance and control over learning and governing chess. And lastly the fact that Anand was one of the last players to have learnt to play chess before computers and chess engines came into being and who adapted to fully embrace the power and capabilities of these devices to stay on top of the game for multiple decades.
The core of the book is centered around his five World Championship games and how he grew from strength to strength with his peak coming in the 2010 World Championship game against Topalov where he had to battle flight cancellations, do a road trip to Sofia, fret about a superior engine and tactics against it and even realize they had a spy along with them the entire time! Anand employs a non-linear narrative style as he takes us back and forth across his different wins, tournaments and circumstances that led to each championship run and why each one of them was unique.
The battles between him and his famous rivals - Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov, Gelfand, and later Carlsen and Aronian are described in vivid detail and read nothing short of a real battle between kingdoms. The level of preparation, strategy, mind games, intense pressure leading up to and during the long matches themselves all make for riveting drama. We understand how important “seconds” are - chess masters themselves who work with players and help them prepare for their games upon which the fate of the match itself usually resides.
Anand also does a great job explaining the technical aspects of the game and how chess players think about moves. He breaks through the myth of them remembering every single game and move they’ve ever played or studied and explains how they study lines, patterns and grouping of pieces on the board to “know” what is right or wrong and how revision and preparation make all the difference. This doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re all incredibly gifted and mental juggernauts but he explains how talent without hard work will only take one so far.
Anand is vocally self-critical about things he does well and doesn’t do well, the style of play that he likes (fast and spontaneous) and how a matchup among players is as much technical as it is about knowing their weak spots and pushing them towards it. As his age caught up, he admits how he struggled to remember lines and positions and has grown to enjoy playing the game as a passion, while still being competitive but not having expectations to have a row of wins in tournaments like in his younger days.
Family is another recurring theme throughout his journey, right from his childhood where his mom spurred his interest in chess to his father holding him to higher standards and placing a bet that he won’t win a world championship title ever, to his wedding with Aruna and her travels with him throughout his journey and eventually becoming his manager and organizing his life, to the birth of his son Akhil after many years and how it changed his priorities in life. He also nicely ties his different successes and failures with a life lesson, though that part seemed to be the only “forced” aspect in this free-flowing memoir.
Overall, Mind Master is a wonderful book that captures the imagination of both chess enthusiasts and others alike and makes one proud to be a compatriot of the legend Vishy Anand.
Also published here.