Vishwanathan Anand | Salil Bera
I reached Germany in February to play the German league matches. I played on a Sunday and then left the country for a short camp. I got back to Germany on March 10 and was supposed to play a game on March 14 or 15 before returning home on March 17. However, my return was postponed first to March 21, and then to March 27. Eventually, it became clear that the world was shutting down completely.
I have been staying in a small town called Bad Soden, near Frankfurt. I have my own place to stay as I did a lot of my world championship training here, so this stay, so far, has not been my longest in Bad Soden. In that sense, I know this place very well. However, while I used to train here, there was a specific purpose or a schedule. This time, it is just an extended stay. We thought flights would resume on March 31, then we thought the lockdown would be lifted in April, but now it continues into May. I was also lucky in a sense that I got here two weeks before the lockdown was announced here. I could have been stuck in a hotel somewhere for ages. Here, I have my friends next door.
The problem is [my wife] Aruna has to cope with everything all by herself [in Chennai]. Akhil, our son, would have had his summer holidays at this time, and he was looking forward to it, but he cannot go anywhere. If I had been home, I would have been able to help her. It is harder for Aruna as my father and her parents are old and have illnesses. I am getting the news about Chennai through news reports and from Aruna, but I do not think one can understand a lockdown till one experiences it personally.
In Frankfurt, the lockdown has been mild. I am able to go out, walk around and do some shopping at the supermarket. I have adjusted to this. Reports here suggest that things are under control. People generally follow instructions given by the government. Germans as such are very law-abiding citizens. Besides, Chancellor Angela Merkel has communicated very well with the citizens here.
Bad Soden is a small town with a population of 20,000 or so. I do not know how people in bigger cities in Germany have managed, but here it was alright. People systematically form queues, maintain social distancing and move fast.
I have also spent time playing chess with Akhil online. I have given him some problems to solve. He is into coding also, so he shares some of his coding problems with me. But really, it is more about seeing each other and communicating daily. We are just happy to see each other through Skype.
The Nations Cup, which the cream of the chess world was playing online, is always a very strong tournament. The reason I agreed to be part of it was that it gave me something to do. There has been a lot of online participation in chess since the lockdowns came into force. People want to expend their energy [and time] by playing chess online and following it.
We had a very good tournament the week before. It was a good routine. [But] the results, as far as India was concerned, were disappointing. We were ranked fifth, but this time it went really badly. Koneru Humpy and D. Harika did well, but the other three players in the team struggled. For P. Harikrishna, in one or two games it was a matter of winning or losing by a close margin. There were games he could have won. It feels like whatever could go wrong for us did go wrong. We could have put up a better performance, no doubt.
Now that the tournament is over, it is about looking to get back home. The repatriation flights to India are taking off, but there is nothing yet from Germany. I am keeping track of developments through the Indian embassy website and people at the embassy. It is all about how much more time I will be spending here now. If it is a week or so, I will concentrate on packing up and [following] the procedures involved. If it will take another three to four weeks, then I will try to learn something new in chess. Everything is dependent on when I get to return home.
As told to Neeru Bhatia.
Anand is a five-time world chess champion.