Viswanathan K's Thoughts

As reigning world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, is getting ready for his title defence, San Ingle mentions something very interesting he said: “The biggest advantage is that I am the better chess player… Having said that… there’s a famous quote: It’s not enough to be a good chess player. You also have to play well.”   Since Carlsen has an excellent record in tiebreaks (if the main series of games ends in a tie, they play rapid games), Ingle asked whether he intended to aim for “a thumping victory, or is he prepared to win ugly?”. Carlsen’s answer: “I am happy to win in any way possible. I’m somebody who puts more emphasis on the sporting aspects of chess than the artistic. And even more so during world championship matches. It’s about getting results.”   Carlsen’s focus on winning, with artistry relegated as a good-to-have, not a must-have, reminded me of something I read in the autobiography of tennis great Andre Agassi titled Open . Agassi, of course, was an a...

Kids who are very good at sports obviously need to spend most of their time practicing. That in turn leaves no time for studies. Parents of such kids therefore get them admitted to schools that promote sports because then the school will ensure that such kids pass the exams. I remember my mom talking about the “nudge” to pass Ajay Jadeja when she taught him (if that’s indeed the word for a student who rarely comes to class) at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. Some teachers resent the situation. Others let it go. Yet others feel it’s a necessary stance to take if we want to encourage kids to look at sports as a career option. Of course, the kid in question knows the situation. And flaunts it. Andre Agassi, in his awesome autobiography titled Open , admits just that from his stint at a hostel-like tennis academy owned by the then famous Nick Bollettieri, an academy that also provided schooling: “The teachers know that their jobs depend on Nick, so they can’t flunk us, and we cherish o...