I wanted to become an astronaut, More precisely-cosmonaut-like Yuri Gagarin, After reading Sputnik,Misha etc from the publications spawned by Soviet Union propaganda machinery. Then closely followed the marathon battles between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov for that never ending world championships nearly 3 decades ago. Wished to be like them and imagined playing chess with them as I grew older. I still remember cartoons depicting Leonid Breshnev and Ronald Reagan in Ananda Vikatan and illustrated weekly during my early childhood. I fondly remembered and deceived myself of Soviet Union as a place of great honour,equality and happiness. When USSR conducted the Goodwill Games to compete with Olympics as East European block boycotted the 1984 Los Angels Olympics, I daydreamed Goodwill games will become a greater show than Olympics. Then my love with Russia faded as Gorbachev,Glasnost and Perestroika broke down USSR into CIS and then into Russia and a number of sovereign nations. Horizons became wider, Started seeing things through, Didnt believe what was fed, USSR became a distant memory, A failed dream. But for an occasional flicker- The role of peasant turned soldier turned sharp shooter hero, Vassily Zaitsev - played by Jude Law in the movie, Enemy at the Gate... I watch that movie innumerable times. Russia later became Putin,Oligarchs playing football clubs as toys,KKNPP...etc. Russia more or less became a fading memory or a dismissive sigh. Today, Viswanathan Anand is defending his world champion title against arguably, The greatest chess player the world will ever see, MAGNUS CARLSEN... Chess, Although purported to have originated in India, Chess is more or less synonymous with the erstwhile USSR, My memories of childhood is flooding back, How my parents and uncles taught me chess as a six year old, The mornings I would remain awake to rush to the door of our Home in Keezhakkarai, To know what has happened of the latest Kasparov-Karpov wrangle., The summer leave chess tournaments we would organise with cousins,uncles and sisters- where I was a sore loser when I lost, The days Ill eagerly await the Sunday express magazine and play the scenarios- check and mate in 2 moves etc, When I visited Russian cultural centre in Chennai for an oratorical completion called Talk your way to Japan organised by The Hindu,Air India and Russian Embassy- and accidentally met a Russian International Master and Indias first international Master Manuel Aaron discussing things at Michael Tal chess club, Becoming College champion and House Surgeon Quarters champion in Chess beating a few friends with ease, On a winning streak and later losing fighting hard, Unable to match my positional play with superior theoretical strength of my nuclear medicine friend at MEENAKSHI missions annual sports event a few years ago, Playing in Yahoo Games, And achieving a three digit ranking in the world when Yahoo was the flavour of the fledgling cyber world ... CHESS. at honey comb like Hyatt Regency, The greatest players of the last two generations of chess players, Anand and CARLSEN, Chennai, Wish I could be there, What could be better for any lover of this great game called chess?
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 05:33:00 +0000
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