Mind Master Anand

What goes on inside the head of a world champion? Many champions have shared their analyses of chess games, and even some inside stories. But the mental struggles that surround the chess tournaments and championship matches has not been revealed to the general public to the same extent. So when former world champion Vishy Anande published a book on this topic, it felt like a must-read.

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What can you expect from this book?

Vishy Anand is a very fascinating person for a number of reasons. He was at the top level for more than three decades, and reigned as world champion from 2007 to 2013. Despite losing his title to Carlsen, he kept playing in top events and even managed to win the candidates tournament for a rematch against Carlsen in 2014. He has also won the prestigious Wijk an Zee tournament five times. When I visisted the tournament in 2020, I reflected on the fact that the first time Anand won the tournament (1989), most of the players in the field were not even born. That's longevity!

Mind Master is a book about Anand's life as a chess player. He shares stories about how he got into the game as a child, and how his skills have developed over the years. Most of all, he tells us about how he has experienced the many top-level tournaments and matches that he has played over the years, with particular focus on his world championship matches. He also writes about the many people in his life that have influenced his development, both at the board and outside chess.

What I found most fascinating about this book is how full of self-doubt Anand was at times. In particular around 2012, he describes how his confidence was at an all-time low. This seems quite unreasonable, considering the fact that he was the reigning world champion and objectively one of the strongest players in history. But we all get demons inside our heads from time to time, and Anand is no exception.

The book is well-written, and contains more than 20 pages full of high quality photographs from his life and chess career. Although the title indicates that the books contains important lessons, I think this aspect of the book is far too superficial to provide any real value. But the book is interesting regardless. It is always interesting to get the inside stories from the lives and careers of top players, and this books does precisely this. So if you want to learn more about Anand and his life, I recommend this book.

Who should read this book?

Mind Master is not a typical chess book. Although the book is (sort of) about chess, the chess content is very limited. It is a biography more than anything. So it is an easy read, and does not require any particular knowledge of the game.

About this book

Author:	Viswanathan Anand
Title:	Mind Master - Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life
Type of book:	Biography
Level:	Any

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