World Chess Champion Vishy Anand loves English Music: Hans-Walter Schmitt

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

There you go, one for the memories (How's your chess trivia knowledge? Fill in the blanks): ___________ looks on as _______ and ___________ play in the Chess Mainz Classic in 2008 even as ___________ records it all for posterity! This photo comes to you from the #1 database of world's best chess photos www.chesspics.com.  

Are you watching the Anand, Carlsen World Chess Championship live in Chennai? Do you know how the players relax and prepare for the 'big show' while in their rooms? Here is a nice article from The Asian Age. Hans-Walter Schmitt - long-time Vishy Anand team member and organiser of the Mainz Chess Classic tells you all about the World Chess Champion's music choices.

‘We are the champions, my friends,

And we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions of the world…’

If at all one gets a chance to go to the 10th floor of the Hyatt Regency — venue of the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen — and manages to peep into the world champion’s suite, one is guaranteed hearing this song.

A fan of English music, Anand peps himself up with various numbers of British rock band Queen. He usually starts a tournament with 'Show must go on' and ends it with 'We are the champions'.

Anand’s team member and organiser of the Mainz Chess Classic, Hans-Walter Schmitt (61), is in Chennai to witness the championship. The German recalled how he and Anand sang the lines from the album Breakthrough, while driving from the airport to the hotel in a BMW at Frankfurt in 1994.

“Our bond grew stronger and even today, we make it a point to sing a few lines together. Between the rounds, Anand may want to sing these lines to relax,” said Schmitt, who was pleasantly surprised by Anand’s quick acclimatisation to home conditions.

“He is feeling very much at home. But this was not clear in my mind; especially taking into account his previous encounters in India that included a bitter Sanghi Nagar experience (Anand lost to Kamsky after being two games up in the quarter-finals of the world championship cycle in 1994). But he has changed a lot and now I feel that it is the right moment to come and show his class in India,” Schmitt added.

A witness to Anand’s first world title in the knockout in New Delhi in 2000, Schmittt believes that the Indian has reached a stage where he can take on anyone in the match format. “Vishy can match wits against any player,” he said.

“When he played Kasparov in 1995, Vishy was young and didn’t know how to handle the Russian GM. But as Vishy matured, he successfully handled the match against Kramnik in Bonn and even digested a first round loss in Sofia against Topalov.”

On the Anand-Carlsen Match: It is like the 1995 Kasparov-Anand match. Only that Anand is in Kasparov’s position and Carlsen in Anand’s shoes, when age and experience are counted. Otherwise, match format is a different ball game. Here, every day, you meet the same opponent, same style, same schedule and same tension.

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Mainz Chess Classic - The end of an era

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

It is very sad that the Mainz Chess Classic is not going to be held any more.

“We would have loved to send you a positive email, announcing the dates for another great Chess Classic tournament in 2011, but unfortunately a decade full of passion and dedication for international rapid chess has come to an end in Mainz,” writes press chief Eric van Reem. He sent us a statement by the chairman of the Chess Tigers e.V., Hans-Walter Schmitt, who announces the end of a chess era.

Hans-Walter Schmitt says in his statement:

"We would like to apologize to our Chess960 world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess960 world champion Hikaru Nakamura and his challenger Alexander Grishuk, the current GrenkeLeasing world champion Gata Kamsky, the 11-time winner Viswanathan Anand and the numerous friends of the Chess Classic, because there will be no title matches in 2011. However, should a “white knight” show up, who wants to grant the Chess Classic a secure financial future, the Chess Tigers are ready to go!"

Here is the full press release.

A decade full of dedication and passion for international rapid chess has come to an end in Mainz. A splendid decade from 2001 to 2010 with ground-breaking innovations in tournament organization for world class players and amateurs alike and the “Mainz System” Chess960, based on the ideas of the American World Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer, made the distinction between the Chess Classic and other classical tournaments.

Speed and entertainment, service and amenities for the spectators and participants were the ingredients of a unique merger that took place once a year between the 2000-year old royal game and the ancient city of Mainz. The main goal of the organizers back in 1994 was to connect the small world of chess with everyday society. Explaining the complex game of chess to a bigger audience, for chess amateurs and laymen with the use of modern technology was the next step, which was thoroughly and systematically implemented in the event.

This yearly meeting place for chess players was highly appreciated by professionals and amateurs and the Chess Classic became a nationally and internationally renowned event, without a doubt one of the highlights on the international chess calendar. The clarity and reliability of the annual world championships in rapid chess and Chess960 and the clear qualification rules in the open tournaments was appreciated by everyone – over the years the organizers had created their own brand. The Chess Classic atmosphere with the spacious Rheingoldhalle, Congress Centre and Hilton Mainz, on the banks of the river Rhine, but still in the centre of the city Mainz was perfect and unparalleled for a top-class and mass sports event.

If all the conditions in Mainz are perfect: why on earth will there be no next tournament, numerous friends of the Chess Classic are bound to ask? And it is a justified question. Maybe the answer of Vladimir Kramnik back in 2001, who was chess world champion at that time after his heroic win over Gary Kasparov, comes closest to the truth. During the Champions Dinner, one of the main sponsors of the event asked him: “How important is this first and unique match with the Fide world champion Viswanathan Anand from India, here in Mainz?” The answer was: “Not so important, this is just a rapid chess match”.

The city of Mainz, its Lord Mayor Jens Beutel and the Chess Tigers e.V. with its chairman Hans-Walter Schmitt would like to thank the long-time sponsors, players and spectators, the international journalists and many volunteers in this seventeen breathtakingly years that rushed past. We have shaped and organized the event seven years in Frankfurt, followed up by ten years in Mainz with inspiration and expertise. We have put our heart and passion into the Chess Classic. There is a quote by the Austrian dramatist and novelist Arthur Schnitzler, which says it all: “Am Ende gilt doch nur, was wir getan und gelebt – und nicht, was wir ersehnt haben.” (“In the End, all that matters is what we have done and lived – not what we have longed for.”)

Chess Tigers e.V.

Chairman Hans-Walter Schmitt

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