Five-time world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand, in an interactive event organised by SAP on Monday, emphasised that victories and losses always depended on decisions made at crucial moments and that it was important not to be afraid and to “take a gamble.”
He spoke about how he had to take decisions at some of the most uncertain times and about how taking those decisions, or “the gamble” to go ahead with a move had helped him in one way or the other.
He said emotions played a decisive role. “You lose when you hesitate, or are not sure. Sometimes, it is some sort of a gamble,” he said.
He was addressing thousands of students from across the country at SAP Techniversity event.
Anand urged the students to continuously rediscover themselves and find newer motivations. “It is important that we find ourselves all over again. We must unlearn, so we can learn more; new things that would help us assess things differently,” he said.
Anand emphasised on the need to constantly practise to attain perfection is any profession. “It is imperative to cultivate a strong level of interest and develop a keen eye for detail,”
Recalling his games, Anand said that after winning the world title, he was faced with the question ‘what next?’ He said that curiosity for things from a wide spectrum was an important aspect of his life.
“This has helped me attain skills in areas which have paid off unexpectedly. Take Steve Jobs for example. He took a calligraphy course only because he liked it then; he had no indication that he might need it later. But it ended up influencing his designs,” he said.
It is, therefore, important to challenge one’s curiosities and get out of the comfort zone, he said.
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