Calls for the Bharat Ratna to be given to Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand have started to pour in after he won the World Chess Championship for the fifth time. He does deserve the country’s highest civilian award, and the way things are shaping up, Anand could give Sachin Tendulkar and Major Dhyan Chand, who until now were the leading choices for the award, tough competition.
Even without his fifth world title in Moscow, he was a deserving candidate for the award. All three sportspersons have made the country proud in their fields and all of them deserve the award. But Anand stands taller than the others, considering what he has done and achieved for the country in a game played throughout the world by millions.
A name made without a team
Anand is one of the few sportspersons from the country who has made a name for himself without being part of a team sport. Sachin and Dhyan Chand are the kind of talents a country seldom produces, and it is very difficult to find geniuses like them, but they were born in a country where both their games were, and are, very popular. For Anand it has never been like that. He had to make a name for himself.
Sachin and Dhyan Chand have countless achievements to their names, but Anand’s efforts in the game of 64 squares are unmatched. He has won titles galore all over the world, and most importantly, he has won the World Championship, the most prestigious title in chess, five times, and in different formats. He is the only chess champion to have won the title in all formats, including tournament, match, rapid and knockout. Sachin, by comparison, has won the World Cup only once, while Dhyan Chand won Olympic gold on three occasions. Anand is the undisputed world champion and was the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, in 1991-92.
If Sachin and Dhyan Chand have records against their names, Anand is far ahead of them in individual accomplishments. Yet Anand’s achievements have never been celebrated the way Sachin’s and Dhyan Chand’s were, because people are unaware of them.
The man behind India’s chess revolution
No one can question the influence Dhyan Chand and Sachin have had on young minds in their respective games, but Anand is the sole reason India has so many grandmasters in chess today. He is the man who ushered in a chess revolution in India. Nor can it be ignored that India was a dominant force in hockey and won five gold medals without the wizard, while cricket was India’s number one game even before Sachin arrived. Anand has been the torchbearer for chess in the country, and it is his single-handed effort that has changed everyone’s outlook towards the game here.
Both Dhyan Chand and Sachin had a mass following, which is a highly motivating factor, but even after so many achievements Anand has been a lone crusader, an unsung hero.
All these players belong to the same league and no one can reach the level they are at. But Anand never had a team supporting him, whereas it would not be harsh to say that both Sachin and Dhyan Chand received immense support from their peers.
Chess in the country has reached its present level because of Anand. He is a pioneer in the truest sense, and no one can even think of achieving single-handedly what Anand has achieved. All three of the country’s sporting heroes should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna, but Anand, the master of 64 squares, deserves to receive it first.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News
