Chessdom.com welcomes IM Tania Sachdev in the commentators team! She is going to comment games from the World Chess Championship 2013 live on the pages of Chessdom. Tania is very excited about the upcoming Anand – Carlsen match, and you can feel the joy streaming from her preview of the event (scroll down for the full text)
WCC 2013 info: Official website / Live games / Live games (2) / Play online at Chessdom Arena
IM Tania Sachdev is born 20 August 1986 in Delhi. She is a WGM since 2005, IM since 2007, and a holder of a GM norm.
As a child, Tania Sachdev was winning multiple events. In her carrer success are U12 Indian champion, Asian U14 Junior and Senior Champion, and many more. She won the national Indian Women Championship in 2006 and 2007, also being a runner up in 2008. She is also holding bronze medal from the World U12 Championship.
In the year 2007 Tania won the Asian Women’s Championship in Tehran with 6.5 points from 9 ahead of Ruan Lufei. In 2008 she competed with the Indian national team in the women competition of the Asian Team Championship in Visakhapatnam, achieving the team second place and received a silver medal for her individual profit of 4.5 out of 6 on the third board. She was the bright star of India at the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, scoring 9,0/11. More about the Olympiad success of Tania Sachdev in an interview here.
Tania is a very colorful person with a dynamic lifestyle. After she completed her studies at the Modern School in Vasant Vihar, a southern district of New Delhi, Tania Sachdev studied literature at Sri Venkateshwara College, Delhi. She graduated English literature, political science and psychology at the University of Delhi in 2008.
In 2009 she got the prestigious Arjuna Award for her performance in chess, just like Viswanathan Anand received the honor in 1985.
In an interview Tania Sachdev comments, “Chess has always been very fascinating for me. I think when you play chess it opens up so many other facets of your personality which one is not aware of. Logical thought process while handling a position in chess and dealing with a complicated situation in real life is so comparable. The ability to accept and deal with good and bad situation on the board and in your day to day life. Above all the interaction with so many people from different countries and visiting beautiful cities all over the world. I just love it all.”
She goes further by saying, “I am what I am today because chess as taught me many things. I have grown as a chessplayer and chess has given me the opportunity to meet many people. Chess has taught me to think, to study how best to compete and made me a stronger player and person. Chess has shaped my character, taught me to always fight and to not easily give up. My experience in tournaments and traveling has made me what I am today.”
Asked about her most memorable game Tania says, “There are many good games which one has played in the past but I always feel my most memorable one has still to come.”
Now she is looking forward to the World Chess Championship match in Chennai. Who is her favorite for the Anand – Carlsen match? Here are her thoughts a few days before the top chess event of the year.
November is here and with it one of the most magnificent events to ever be hosted on Indian soil. I ask anyone who is drawing a blank with regards to what I am talking about to close your eyes, dig deep and rattle your brains because I know that you know about the event that I am referring to. It doesn’t matter if you refer to a knight as a horse and a rook as an elephant, unless you have been living under a rock in the deepest depths of the Norwegian Sea or Indian Ocean (Ha! see what I did there), over the last few weeks you would have definitely come across the two and half word, million dollar question that has been on everyone’s lips – Vishy or Magnus? Of course these million dollar questions have a knack of being unanswerable. Thus far, this one is no different.
The curtain is about to be drawn on the 2013 World Chess Championship. Beginning with the bizarre, nail biting finish of the Candidates tournament in April, this match has been dramatic from its very inception. Magnus, in his classic inexplicable way, that makes it seem as though there are some higher powers at play, like a guardian angel of sorts, won The Candidtates in London and with that earned the right to challenge the reigning world champion Vishy Anand for the title of the World’s best. Ever since Magnus’ victory the entire chess community and its extended fanbase have been anxiously counting the days to the 9th of November 2013, where the players will lock horns in the first of 12 games.
Vishy won the world championship in 2007 and went on to defend the title against Kraminik, Topalov, Gelfand in 2008, 2010 & 2012 respectively (history here). Vishy’s reign at the top has been strong and solid, immovable from his throne. His performance over the last 15 years across a variety of formats, against the very best, has shown he belongs there.
In the World Championship Matches that followed 2007 the odds were always stacked in one man’s favor. They always favoured the reigning world champion and Vishy never disappointed. Not just in terms of winning and defending his title, but the game itself was taken to higher levels every time he took to the board. People saw how a World Champion plays and what it is that sets him apart from the rest of the chasing pack.
Enter Magnus.
With his cool determination, will power, and a game play style that has left us all awestruck, to say the least, Magnus Carlsen has broken all records. He has proven to be unstoppable. He aims beyond the realm of possibility, achieves it, and makes it look easy. He has won all the super events and has taken his ELO ratings to a height that no one ever deemed to be possible.
I think in the last couple of years all of us have been waiting for the moment that is now less than 72 hours away. This is a matchup that pits two of the greatest players of all time, the undisputed world champion against the undisputed world no.1. This one time there are no clear favorites. Everyone has been asked who will win, and no one has a clear answer. The famous force paradox stated as ‘what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object’? Was first answered by The Joker and now will be as historically answered again over the next 3 weeks. Omnipotence as we know it will be challenged.
Vishy’s experience will be put to the sword when pitted against Carlsen’s fearlessness on the board. All in all, we are in for an amazing spectacle and no matter the outcome – the sport as a whole is going to be taken to new heights and as a professional, who has learnt so much from the sport, I know it will inspire and draw a new generation of people to the game.
I will be in Chennai at the gladiator’s arena where the Tiger of Madras will take on the Carlsenator. The fight for glory will be spectacular and I’ll keep you posted on all the ups and downs and ins and outs.
Let the games begin!
Yours,
Tania Sachdev
