Citizenship row: Chess grand master Viswanthan Anand remains unfazed

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 24: It takes a lot of patience to excel in the game of chess and Viswanathan Anand has wellmastered the art of patience.
The smile on Anand's face told it all. He was unfazed over the controversy the Union HRD Ministry created over his citizenship. Anand was quite cool and relaxed while expert mathematicians from around the world expressed unhappiness and shock over the way the grand master's citizenship was questioned by the Indian government.
According to the organisers of international congress of mathematicians, where Anand played chess with 40 mathematical geniuses, the grand master did not exhibit any anxiety. "Anand is a thorough gentleman and sportsperson. He took the entire episode rather in a sportive spirit," said Dr Rajat Tandon, head of the department of mathematics, University of Hyderabad.
Anand was more concerned about the chess event, and he did not want mediapersons to  detract his attention from chess to the controversial issue of his citizenship. The grand master requested the organisers not to let the mediaperson in. Once the chess competition was over, which Anand won, mediapersons were allowed to witness the question and answer session.
That Anand does not want the controversy to be blown over was clear from the fact that he 
advised organisers to ensure that no question relating to the HRD Ministry or the honorary PhD degree was put to him.