Managing in Difficult Times

In chess, I have often faced difficult and tricky situations. I remember some crisis moments from my career. In 1994, I was on my way to qualify for the world championship. In one of the knock­out matches, after five games, I was leading my opponent by two points with three games to go. Essentially, I had to lose two out of these three, so as not to win it. I started to relax a little bit. I lost the sixth game and told myself that the situation was still under control. I did not focus properly. I lost the seventh game as well and the match went into tie­break. I lost that too.

I learnt from that experience that it is very important never to be complacent and never to relax till you have the point in your bag. These days, as I have become older, I am even more nervous when I am about to win. It is one thing to be almost there in a game and another thing to have the game wrapped up in your pocket.

Those warning signals…

Difficult moments are the ideal time to reflect, to objectively analyse ourselves and think what we really need to do, and to improve systematically. In chess, we evaluate ourselves after every game—the mistakes we committed and the things we did right—and work on them. Sometimes, there are broader patterns; there are psychological weaknesses which I have revealed: impatience, euphoria and emotional turmoil. We have to identify when these things hit us and have the discipline to note down, so that the next time these emotions come up, our warning signals will go off. That’s how we learn. This is a lesson from my personal failure.

This year, we are experiencingsomething that none of us have facedbefore and certainly not on this scale.This is literally the definition of ForceMajeure.

Clubbing two club matches

In February, I innocently got on a flight and went to Germany. The plan was to play one club match, stay there for three weeks and play another club match. Instead of flying back to India between these matches, I had an idea of clubbing these two matches and bridging them with a training session in Poland and returning to India after the second club match was over.

Difficult moments are the ideal time to reflect, to objectively analyse ourselves and think what we really need to do, and to improve systematically.

I played the first club event, trained for three weeks in Poland and was about to come back to Germany for playing my second club match. While we were there, worrying signs started coming up one by one. Italy and Spain were heavily affected. These were countries which we thought had excellent health care system. On March 10, I arrived in Germany. On the 13th, my team captain called everyone and cancelled the event.

Long wait for tomorrow

I called Lufthansa to fly back. They said, “Today’s flight is cancelled; May be tomorrow?” The answer was the same on many days that followed. I was stuck in Germany. It has been an extremely interesting learning experience. We can learn from situations just as much as our own personal experiences. I was fortunate that I agreed to do some commentary for a chess tournament, which was a new development for me. I agreed because I had to do something while in Germany and the assignment came in handy. It went on till the end of the month. My return flight date shifted to April 5.

The tournament I was doing commentary got cancelled half­way. The reason they kicked off the tournament was because they had all participants and enough doctors with a high player to doctor ratio, so everyone, including me, could be safe till the end. Russian airspace was closed halfway and no one could go back home. They had to shut the tournament.

I began to suspect that this year was going to be different and unlike any other year. I had plans to play a big tournament in April in Germany. I was scheduled to play in Azerbaijan, Paris, Amsterdam and the US. Suddenly, the whole thing disappeared.

It looked clear to me that I might not take a flight out of Germany in April. Though flights landed in Germany bringing passengers stranded in India, they were not taking any of us back. They flew empty back home. I found myself with a lot of time.

Sharpen the saw

I tried to learn something new. I looked at my chess, practicing some languages and read subjects that I had not read —all these self­improvement stuff. Given that we don’t know what kind of world we are going to return to, this was probably the only logical thing I could have done at that stage.

Online chess started booming. In April and May, every website reported three to four times the normal level of traffic. All events moved to online. No one knew when all these would end. I decided to rehearse and practice things that would be valid for any possible future and useful to me no matter where and when I play. I learnt about online games, Pawn endgame; Rook endgame; Sicilian defence and so on.

Most economies were severely affected. It was impossible for all of us to make any plans, whichever sector we were in. The only thing we could do was to work on the skills that we need. I did a bit of that.

I was very lucky to be in Germany which had a relatively mild lockdown. They had strict regulations which everyone followed and they didn’t go overboard with that. Within the town, I was able to go out. I took advantage of that and did a lot of physical training.

Twin quarantines back home

Then we found out that there were going to be some Vande Bharat flights, to return home. That called for quite a bit of planning to make a flight booking by filling all sorts of forms. It was nice to see the people evolving. For instance, the Indian embassy in Berlin understood that simply putting a website where people can’t ask any questions does not work. They started adapting and communicated to individuals and through Twitter.

Every now and then, there would be WhatsApp rumours about a flight and the embassy would issue clarification, ‘No, that’s not going to happen.’ I was ready to travel to any city in India. Finally, I got my flight to Bengaluru on May 27 after three and half months in Germany. I spent one week in Bengaluru, quarantined.

Then I took a flight to Chennai wearing all PPEs. I got back home and was in home quarantine for a week in Chennai. I was confined to my bedroom and my meals would be kept outside. On June 14, I could enter the normal situation, in the sense that I could be at home with my family. Outside, the world continued with chaos.

Getting ready, square by square

When I play chess, I always get a dominant impression about the exact moment that I am ready for an event. This mental preparedness would gradually build up in stages. For instance, when I get into the car for the airport, something clicks. When I am in the plane, when I arrive at the hotel, when I go to the opening ceremony where they draw lots, when I meet other players—at every stage something clicks and I gain complete concentration; I know, for sure, that the tournament has started.

I accepted an online tournament last month. Till two minutes before the event began, it just didn’t feel real. It felt like it was happening to someone else, somewhere else. I could not get ready for it. I am used to seeing players wandering about and looking at the boards; I would look at the spectators. All these cues are missing in online mode but we are still forced to operate from home.

I lost the online game and, after the result was known, my son opened the door and wandered in. He was very happy to give me advice that he used to get so many times, “Appa (Dad). You’ve to practise this opening better; you’ve to concentrate. I think you’re getting too distracted.”

That was nice and touching but it hit me on something: How do you concentrate at home? There is something unreal, about never interacting or seeing your opponent. It doesn’t really feel serious. I guess we’ll get better with this. I need to manufacture artificial cues and how can I do that? Twenty minutes before a game starts, I have to look at puzzles, do something that warms me up or play training games. This is the beginning of the curve.

Pandemic & the chess computer

The pandemic reminds me of playing against the chess computer. When I play against another human, I can read his face and he can read mine for cues. Even when a passer­-by glances, there may be some information. If I defend my position with three accurate moves, then I know by the fourth move, my opponent is getting slightly discouraged. I feel good having made a couple of positive moves. The opponent reacts to everything we do.

When you play with the chess computer, you lose that sense completely. You don’t have any idea what it thinks; nothing you do impacts it in any way. The Corona virus reminds me of that.

The first time I started playing with computer, long back, I realised no one would pat you on the back or give a positive feedback; nothing. The computer opponent is very different and will not allow you to relax. Only at the end, you will know if you have done the right thing. It’s hard but the computer does not care. It is the same with the virus. All it is interested in is infecting more and more people. It’s even killing us at a lower rate so that it can infect more people. It is just pure evolution. It is a kind of enemy that requires us to have a certain discipline.

All we can do is to take the precautions that we’ve been taking and be patient till we come out of the pandemic.

Inspiring leadership

People have noticed that countries led by women have done much better than many other countries. There are several factors. I watched many addresses, while in Germany, by Angela Merkel, German Chancellor. One consistent pattern struck me. She never made fun of the virus or never tried to entertain the audience. There was honesty and frankness. “This is what we are facing. There are so many cases I have heard of. This is what the top institutes, the experts are saying,” She would explain.

She gave one particular example, which I liked a lot. She said, “If the Ro —the infection rate—is 1.1, then our hospitals can cope. If it is 1.2, our hospitals will break down in June. If it is 1.3, they will be down in April.” Good leadership is being honest with your audience, acknowledging scientific facts. There is a lesson there. Many world leaders did not manage to convey this way and they did not get the required response either.

Uncertain future moves

We are all in this for the long haul. I don’t know what the future will look like. I don’t know if the mixture of online chess and offline will change. It may change fundamentally. The ratio of offline to online may not be 80: 20. It may become 40: 60. All we can do is to take the precautions that we’ve been taking and be patient till we come out of the pandemic.

I feel sad to watch my son’s school year disappear. He used to have friends and social interaction. We have to tell him that the alternative is horrible. We need to be optimistic and come out of this crisis alive.

Even in chess, I don’t know what world I should get ready for. My wish list in January would have been completely different—essentially, spend more time with family. Now we’ve got all the time to spend with our family and it’s not easy either.

Just as a defeat in a game of chess forces you to look at every alternative, something like this crisis makes us to look at all aspects of our life. May be, success is not the only measure. You can find out what the priorities are, what is important and what is not important.

I used to tell people, “I don’t think I can survive more than a month without air travel.” I have taken one international flight in the last seven months. I used to think that a lot of things are important. Now I have found out that many are not that much of deal breakers. This is a good chance to reflect and get ready for the future. Stay safe and all the best. �