Vish Comes True
By Manisha Mohite
Two men in love with the game, meet over 64 black and white squares, thanks
to Midday. One is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, and the other, blind chess
champion Darpan Inani, who now believes in miracles.
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Bombay 1986: Viswanathan Anand (16) becomes the youngest
Indian player to win the National Chess title.
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Mumbai 2010: Darpan Inani (16) becomes the youngest Indian
to win the National Blind Chess Championship.
Tingling nerves marked blind chess champion, Darpan Inanis butterflies-in-the-stomach
wait for his idol Viswanathan Anand recently. Inani who rushed from his home
town Baroda, was in the hotel lobby, half an hour earlier than scheduled. It
was difficult to find free time with Anands schedule for the couple of days,
a very hectic one but the Indian maestro immediately squeezed in some time when
informed about Darpans desire to meet him.
On spotting Darpan, Anand without a seconds hesitation delayed his lunch appointment
and sat down to interact with the youngster. Darpan will be the youngest Indian
to represent his country at the World Chess Championship for the Blind scheduled
in Serbia this August.
A thrilled Darpan was speechless for a while and could not stop beaming as
Anand queried him on his interests and chess choices. A victim of the Steven
Johnson Syndrome (allergic reaction to medicine in his case), Darpan lost
his sight as a four-year-old, but not his vision for chess.
His self-confidence and belief easily singles him out, and his adept handling
of the laptop impressed Anand. Darpan showed a few of his played games to Anand
who quickly scanned, analysed and suggested improvements.
A truly touching moment was when the tall and towering bespectacled Anand,
hunched over to interact with the small and slightly built youngster, sporting
dark glasses, their love and passion for the 64 squares taking them into their
own world, oblivious of the surroundings.
Anand also agreed to help out the youngster with his preparation for the World
Championship games and promised to keep touch via email. When queried whether
he watched Anand defeating Topalov in the last World Championship Match, Darpan
pitched in, “I enjoy Anand's games with the King Pawn Opening, as I think
he is spectacular in open positions and conjures up some superb combinations.
Somehow I have not liked him switching to the Queen Pawn opening in recent times.”
However, he added that despite his dislike, Anand has produced greater results
in World Title matches with this opening against Kramnik and Topalov.
Anand, when quizzed about his memories as a 16-year-old, grinned and said,
“my most pleasant experience as a 16-year-old was of writing and wrapping
up my tenth standard board examinations and then enjoying the long vacation.
Impressive talent
He was also quick to praise Darpan saying, “I found him an impressive
talent, and he has a very healthy habit of analyzing his own games, which should
take him a long way.“ I hope that he does well in the World Championship.
When I was 16, there were no computers and I was carting books and excess baggage
to tournaments. After winning my first title in Mumbai, I went about accumulating
norms for titles. The only thing common is that I had difficulty in opening
preparation, which were from books in those days, but even today with computer
aid, I still had opening trouble in the World Championship. That has remained
same, then and now,” said Anand.
Darpan Thrilled
“Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that Anand would actually
spend so much time with me,” gushed Darpan. “I had imagined that
it might be a formal handshake and some routine advice, but his warmth and interest
has bowled me over. I simply cannot get over his humility. This is the happiest
day of my life, and this meeting has really motivated me. I promise to work
harder for the World Championship,” said Darpan.
