As the sun sets in the Goan village of Arpora and another day of the FIFA World Cup comes to an end, the road leading to the Rio Resort, where most of the players are also staying, becomes crowded. Not with vehicles, but with great masters. They set out in small groups, many wearing shorts and tracksuits, a far cry from their usual attire of tailored suits.
Where are they heading? Well, wherever their feet take them.
For a sport that requires sitting for hours in one place, walking has generated its own chess folklore. Some great masters talk about five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand who once ended up in another village while going for a walk. It’s a tale that makes even Anand chuckle while being rejected. He added that whenever he played a Tata Steel Chess event in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, on rest days he would always walk to the neighboring town of Beverwijk.
“Beverwijk is about 6 km from Vik. It takes an hour to get there and an hour to come back. And then, you also have to walk within the city itself. There are many towns where I walk a lot, for very long distances. I usually walk for relaxation,” Anand tells The Indian Express. “In any city that had a riverbank, I would go for a walk along it, as in Paris. In many German cities and towns, I would walk very long distances and let my mind wander. I hoped I would not get lost.”
Other notable names here and the only player to win two World Cups include Levon Aronian, who is also known for his hiking.
“Three to four hours is normal for me. Especially after matches. At tournaments, I usually walk with my close friends like (Russian professors) Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik. We would discuss everything: sociology, philosophy, music, arts. Or just chess. Just talking, understanding things and changing opinions. Some of my best memories are discovering cities with my friends while walking. They have no purpose, these walks. Just to find out how people live in that city. Age 43: “Chess player, you’re so focused on your work that you can’t notice things, or observe people in their normal lives.”
Aronian says one such long walk in Goa in 2002 during the World Junior Championships changed his life. He discovered a temple and entered it. There, he met a stranger and, after a short conversation, decided to become a vegetarian, a decision he has stuck to ever since.
Story continues below this ad
Vidit Gujrathi walks down the hall before his second round classic match against Faustino Oro at the FIDE World Cup at the Rio Resort in Goa. (Quick photo by Amit Kamath)
However, when world champion De Gokish plays in India these days, walks become rare as he is constantly approached for selfies and autographs. But his father, Rajinikanth, says he walks “a lot” when he is out for tournaments.
“I’ve never met a chess player who doesn’t like to go for a walk,” says Tanya Sachdev, a chess professor turned commentator. “It’s a therapeutic way to take your mind off things. I used to love walking before games when I was playing. If I was going out for lunch, I would choose a place that required at least a 20-minute walk. If there was a longer route from my hotel to the playing venue, I would choose that. Walking has served every chess player in different ways.”
Brainwave moment
Sometimes walking is also about having a great wave. Koneru Hamby says she made it to the Women’s World Championships in 2011 because of an idea she had during one of these walks.
“During the 2011 Doha Women’s Grand Prix, the day before my final round match against Zhou Chen, I went for a walk with my father. There we came up with the idea of using the Benoni snake (the snake version of the Benoni defense) in the match against Zhou. I found it interesting. So I used it in the must-win match that got me through to the World Championship,” Hamby says.
Story continues below this ad
American GM Wesley So says he walks for “about half an hour” before every game when nerves are frayed. But local boy Leon Luc Mendonca prefers to walk after matches to help drain the adrenaline. The person you’re with determines how long they walk, Mendonca says. “With friends, it can take two hours. Alone, no more than an hour,” Guan says.
American Liang Awonder is a rare grandmaster who hates walking. But he understands magic. “There’s a kind of history of academics who like to walk because they get ideas while doing it. Mathematicians, too. It’s said that a lot of famous philosophers liked to walk, too,” he says.
(tags for translation)Chess World Cup
