World championship chess: drug testers roll in as Anand asserts himself
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After an overwhelming victory in the sixth game of the World Chess Championship in Bonn, it seems that the only thing which can stop Viswanathan Anand from capturing the world title is if the Indian Grandmaster has been doing a spot of body-building in his spare time. For Tuesday in Bonn was the day the drug testers arrived. Yes, tournament chessplayers are subject to drug testing — a part of chess’ deal to become a sport recognised by the International Olympic Committtee. Since no drugs have been proven to be useful to chessplayers — though anecdotal evidence suggests that caffeine and nicotine might have some short-term benefits and the jury is still out on some of the new memory drugs — the chess drug testers simply look for any substance on the WADA banned list — steroids, EPO, amphetamines, diuretics, etc, etc. Ventolin inhalers are out, as one Italian amateur found to his cost — banned for “only” six months since his was deemed to be an innocent mistake. On Tuesday the testing procedure took so long that the two players were forced to have separate press conferences; Anand seemingly had more trouble producing a sample than he did dealing with Kramnik over the board earlier in the day. Two of the players’ Grandmaster seconds were also tested on Tuesday, technically considered out-of-competition tests. One may presume that Anand and Kramnik are well enough informed by their national sports body to avoid accidentally taking any banned substances, or to gain permission for any drugs prescribed by a doctor. The same cannot be said for Australian players, who have discovered that the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority refuses to deal with them because, they say scornfully, “We don’t consider chess a sport.” “But we are subject to testing…” “Not from us you’re not.” Conversation closed. As a result, Australian chessplayers playing internationally cannot register with ASADA medically prescribed drugs that they may need to take, as required by the WADA rules. ASADA (and ASDA before it) has never provided educational sessions to Australian teams travelling to the Chess Olympics and will not accept location information from Australian chessplayers who might be subject to out-of-competition testing. Most Australian chess Olympians are part-timers with negligible knowledge of the details of WADA’s complex rules so it seems inevitable that sooner or later an innocent victim will emerge. Perhaps only then will ASADA accept responsibility for educating all Australian sportspeople, regardless of ASADA’s corporate views on what is a sport and what is not. Back in Bonn, Anand’s third victory in four games over Vladimir Kramnik gave him a massive 4.5-1.5 lead at the half-way mark of the match and even Kramnik cannot see himself coming back from such a deficit. “I just have to try to play better, to win a game,” Kramnik mused after his insipid performance in game 6. In contrast, Anand is looking as if nothing can perturb him; his smooth effort in turning back all Kramnik’s counter-attacking tries on Tuesday was particularly impressive. Anand, at 38 at the end of his best chess years, should within a week have the World Match Championship he has craved for so long — unless of course he made the mistake of taking a cold tablet before a game.
Watch the game here (with an awesome Iron Maiden soundtrack as a backdrop):
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3 Comments
Great to find Ian’s commentary. It’s a shame Anand has such a dominating position. Kramnik has played solidly, i think, but doesn’t appear to have the flair of a world champ… or enough ability to beat down the smug Vishy.
.. It is possible Anand is a drug cheat, though i tend to guess otherwise. In the “The Hindu” on-line newspaper , they quote him:
‘When asked about the possibility of performance-enhancing drugs for chess players, Anand said, “It is completely pointless, of course.” ‘
Seems very naive to me.
Yes, excellent move by Crikey to obtain GM Rogers’ commentary.
At least Anand will be a World Champ recognized by the entire chess world, and 15th in the line of real champs starting with Steinitz.