Vishy Anand: commitment

Transcript context

…Yes, but it was a mistake. Surprise backfired because Ian seemed to know exactly which line to play. He went for the one line where h3 turns out to be a disadvantage. That’s very hard to nail down. You have to get quite deep into it. Mostly that works, but yes, even with that qualification, the opening preparation everywhere is just building up and up. There are lines I neglect for six months, and then I come back to them, and I realize, “Oh my God, I have to update everything. I’m not sure of anything in this preparation anymore.” The problem in preparation is not whether it’s detailed. The problem is whether you can believe in it. If you have not checked it 100 percent, it’s worthless. It’s like a 99 percent guarantee before you go into the operation. You want to have a 100 percent guarantee, right? 99 percent is simply not good enough. That’s the problem with opening preparation as well, that the computer allows you to question everything, every new version, every new program, every new piece of hardware. Each one of those things can drive it. Every six months or a year, you have to start all over again, cleaning your stuff. On the other hand, one of the great joys in chess research is to come to an opening that you’ve not seen in five years. That first day, you’re discovering everything new. Every single line you refute and clean up, and you feel like you’ve cleaned your entire house of clutter, and you feel wonderful. It’s a double-edged sword, I will concede that, but it’s a pain in the neck when you want to rely on something. The people are playing the Giuoco Piano again. Is it that we’ve discovered it’s better than Ruy Lopez? Or just we’re sick of all the old lines, and we’re going to try something different for three years and then move on? The Two Knights game is even coming a bit into fashion. Is it cycling or continuous improvement?…

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