Checkmate

Source: Wikipedia

The noise has finally begun to die down. The entire nation was gripped with a fever for the last few weeks- Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from all forms of cricket. Everything else was forgotten, all that people could think of was that a cricketing legend whose career spun over twenty four years was calling it a day. A star performer through most of the two decades that he was on the field, the little master was proclaimed to be no less than a god. No wonder India cried; tears ran down every cheek, woeful messages flooded Facebook and Twitter and tissue sales went up.  The day the last Test match began, roads were deserted and life came to standstill across the country.

Everything else was forgotten; including a world championship that was silently taking place at The Hyatt in Chennai at the very same time. A rather soft spoken, bespectacled and intelligent looking gentleman was defending his world championship title. A man with an unassuming persona who stayed away from the glitz and glamour success brought him for over two decades. He became his country’s first ever Grandmaster at the tender age of 19 and held championships after championships in a sport that very few of his countrymen could foray into.

A wonder that never ceased, he rose to fame with his king, queen, bishop and the knights. Making the front page from time to time but often pushed into the shadows by a cricket crazy nation. Like all other sports, his never stayed in the limelight for long either.  His is a tale that legends are made of, but not in his homeland. Here he was, defending a championship on home ground and yet not many seemed to notice. The lone star shining across the checkered sky was almost forgotten.

He might have been checkmated out of his title, but he will continue to be one of the greatest the game has ever produced. If only his country noticed him as much as he deserved...It’s a pity Viswanathan Anand’s game was not cricket.