Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand recently shared his thoughts on how chess reflects life, the recent dominance of Indian players on the global stage, and the sport’s potential inclusion in the Olympics. In a thought-provoking discussion, Anand highlighted how one’s approach to chess often mirrors their real-life decision-making and problem-solving skills.
Viswanathan Anand on chess and life lessons
Speaking during a conversation with TV9 Network, Anand reflected on the parallels between chess and real life, emphasising how personal tendencies and habits translate into one’s playing style. He laughingly admitted that it also helps him improve his habits to suit his game, but not all the time, since not everything is as important as chess.
“The connection goes back even earlier. The way you play chess is related to how you deal with anything in life. If you are impulsive off the board, you will be impulsive on the board. So, in chess we will have learnt some degree of either controlling your impulses or controlling your way of coming to decisions, but in life if I don’t have something of comparable importance like chess, then I don’t have that rigor and discipline. It’s harder to correct myself, you need a bad experience before you kind of correct yourself,” Anand explained
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