WHAT JINX? THE CURSE OF NUMBER '13' CAR IN F1

The age-old jinx in Formula One has finally been broken and it took some time coming. A F1 car with the number '13' has scored points in a race for the first time.

At yesterday's US Grand Prix, when Pastor Maldonado made a brave move to pass successfully Jenson Button before being overtaken by Vettel - the mercurial Venezuelan driver was threading a thin line in the 10th place, knowing it might all change if there was a slight error from his part. With less than 2 laps to go, Maldonado pulled off another overtaking manoeuvre on Jean-Eric Vergne. He finished the race in the ninth position and yet it was not certain if he would hold on to his place.

With a five-second penalty owing to exceeding speed limits in the pit lane - a further five seconds was taken off which placed Maldonado in tenth position. After the investigations on Vergne's sudden plunge at the first corner which forced Romain Grosjean out of the racing line, Maldonado was reinstated to ninth place placing Vergne in tenth position (he too received a five seconds penalty).

Amidst all the confusion, for the first time in the season Pastor Maldonado has scored points and personally I believe this was the second talking point of the race after watching Lewis Hamilton become the most successful British F1 driver with 32 victories.

In my other article early this year (Read: Return of number 13 in F1) - I stressed upon the reluctance of F1 drivers and FIA to a great extent in using number 13 in the livery. Pastor Maldonado chose to be brave and ignored all the previous superstitions associated with '13' - when drivers were given the option to choose numbers starting from 2014, instead of FIA allocating numbers depending on constructor's championships. The last time number '13' car appeared dates back to 1970's. What a myth F1 was creating for itself!

With team Lotus, in 2014 Maldonado had a disastrous season which saw him retire four times, finish outside of points scoring position on 11 occasions and in Monaco, he did not even start. Such numbers are not worth talking about and sooner or later, Triskaidekaphobia (fear of number 13) might have hovered all around him and the team. His teammate Romain Grosjean equally had a terrible season and has 8 points courtesy of two top ten finishes. It was not driver's fault - blame goes to Lotus and their incompetent cars.

I am happy for once this jinx has been settled once in for all. For a sport which deals with billions of dollars, such superstitions only makes one message to be heard loud and clear - "Irrespective of how big the organisations grow, how much ever the profits are - as long as you have humans involved, there can never be all-logic". This probably explains why till date only four drivers ever muster the courage to have '13' on their livery.

On an interesting note - I now wonder what would have happened if Maldonado would have finished the season with no points. Would he have considered a change in the number?  

KABADDI, KABADDI - WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Last month saw the culmination of a successful inaugural tournament in Mumbai. It was played at eight cities across India and turned out to be a hit among spectators - who witnessed the events unfold inside the stadium along with millions of viewers on television. Finally, a non-cricket sport, very local to India has been marketed and presented as a successful business model.

Recognition for those hard-working athletes, return on investment for people with deep pockets, a platform with commercial benefits for broadcasters and entertainment for viewers. What more do you want? This is what a non-Olympic sport 'Kabaddi' managed to achieve through Pro Kabaddi League recently; a commercial sports property that has captured the hearts of many Indians locally and globally.

Punjabi immigrants playing Kabaddi in Greece 

WHAT IS KABADDI?

Kabaddi is primarily a sport played mostly by the Asian countries surrounding the Indian sub-continent. The origins of this contact team sport dates back to pre-historic times and has its inspiration from a scene in the Indian epic 'Mahabharata'. Many who have followed the tales of Abhimanyu - the sixteen year old warrior gallantly trying to break the seven-tiered army formation of the opponents 'Kauravas' can loosely connect with the modern sport of Kabaddi. 

Kabaddi (holding of breath in Hindi) involves athleticism, presence of mind, reflexes, guts, breath control and team work. It is simple to comprehend, played both indoors, grass, beach, just about any outdoor place. A game usually finishes within the clock striking 60 minutes. Seven members consist in a team with two teams participating in a game. One member (raider) gets into the opponent and battles with seven of them together (defense or the antis), while moving to either sides continuously exhaling with chants of 'Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi' without getting caught by the opponent's formation. All the raider has to do is touch as many opponents as possible without getting caught by the defense (opponents) on a single breath. The raider can inhale only when he/she returns to their home court and deemed out if they are unsuccessful in making contact with the opponents. The raider exhales continuously until he scores a point! Phew  

Wrestling in the raider to the ground by the defense helps them to stop the raider from reaching his home court, inhale again and thereby preventing the raider to score points. It is a test of mind, body and a lot more!  

The Antis (defense) touched by a raider during the attack are ruled 'out' if they are unsuccessful in catching the raider before returning to the home court. And then the other team sends a raider and the battle continues. The team with maximum points wins. Gone are the days, when the teams battled on for hours... now it makes sense to have it time bound and thus a marvellous spectator sport. Simple isn't it?

THROUGH THE AGES

Kabaddi happens to be the national sport of Bangladesh and Nepal though much of its origins and development was in India. Kabaddi dates back to pre-historic times, a time when there was no concept of AD or BC. However, the official recognition of this sport came only in the early 20^th century. Kabaddi achieved the national status only in 1918 and the popularity was spread across the country in the coming years thanks to some of the pioneers hailing from Maharashtra - a populous state of India.

Small overview of Kabaddi

KABADDI AT THE OLYMPICS

In 1912, IOC (International Olympic Committee) had introduced a formal platform through which some of the 'folk' games and other regional games would use Olympics for the promotion of the sport. In the name of 'demonstration sports', several countries put forth their sport and promoted it well- which then resulted in them being part of the Olympic programme. Basketball, canoeing, kayaking, baseball, volleyball, tennis (was part of Olympics from 1896 to 1924), judo, taekwondo in Summer Sports and curling, speed skating, speed skiing, ice dancing, short speed skating were just few demonstration sports to begin with and later becoming a part of the Olympic programme.

Kabaddi too was given an opportunity to be part of this group and a grand promotion was given by the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal from Maharashtra at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I am not sure what happened after that. Did the Indian hockey team's achievements overshadow this promotional sport? or was it too Indian at that time?

A ROUGH START

India has been at the forefront for the development of Kabaddi to global audience for close to hundred years. With limited international exposure, it was indeed a challenge to promote the sport commercially. It was mere restricted to schools and colleges with few professionals playing at the national level. Since the birth of the national federation in 1950, the administrators have had constant battles and had to give way to either Hockey till the 1980's or Cricket from the 1980's in order to remain popular. Barring few Asian countries, there were no contests that made headlines and it remained a 'recreational' sport for most people in India - a sport played once in a while just for fun. That includes me! As a kid growing up, I played Kabaddi just for fun without ever dreaming a single day of becoming a 'Kabaddi' player.

FORMATION OF A RECOGNISED BODY

Till the beginning of this millennium, Kabaddi was making strides mostly in the Asia continent with it being a regular at the Asian Games since 1990. A mere 31 countries as founding members, the International Kabaddi Federation was formed in 2004. Not surprisingly, India was chosen as its headquarters in Jaipur and with an India holding the reins at the top.

All the continents (five rings, remember?) now have teams that participate in the World cup - a event which has been held since 2004 and held annually since 2010. There is no team yet to defeat India in the finals in both men's and women's division and only time will tell, if other teams are there just to make up the numbers.

SMALL STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Kabaddi is a sport which is very popular in India. Each region knows this sport by different names, unique to their respective regions. Though it is not India's national sport (It is not cricket either... it is hockey) various states have 'Kabaddi' has its state sport.

Where does Kabaddi go from here?

I believe the revival of Kabaddi to suit television audience, spectator friendly and being played in a league format among teams spread across the golden quadrilateral of India is one of the success stories for India this year. Celebrities throwing in their names and money has helped in a great way to stay in the media.

In the last two decades, there is a surge in number of movies released in India with Kabaddi being the theme. Indians to a large extent love to be entertained and most do not mind paying money, spending time and sometimes loads of money to be at the receiving end of the entertainers. Kabaddi as a mass-sport, for the first time has come of age.

India probably is the right country to experiment on non-cricket sports. The consumption of sports is getting better with each year. The next ten years is  a test ground - where sporting revolutions will constantly hit the human evolution across the nation. A little late perhaps to join the bandwagon, but a tremendous business opportunity which would last longer!

Having Kabaddi as a Olympic sport is a long way ahead and I believe that should not be the sole focal point. Everything does not begin and end with being part of the Olympic programme. Taking a cue from the Olympic charter, Kabaddi as a sport exalts and combines in a balanced manner the qualities of body, will and mind. And plus, it is not a complicated sport!

In India, Kabaddi has triggered a  revival movement for so-called 'folk' sports and in turn it into a spectator sport. As long as it is entertaining and athletes keep developing, sport will evolve positively on its own. All it needs is investment and continued nurturing.

   

The first step of achieving something great is possible and is a common occurrence. Kabaddi in its new avatar (Pro Kabaddi League) has achieved the first target. However, very few have managed to remain relevant and re-discovered themselves for the better from time to time. How will it be say after five years? I would surely want to look back and have more to write on it... or even working on Kabaddi! 

Pro Kabaddi League 2014 - Success story in Indian sports 

Who says winner takes it all?

The winner dominates the headlines, receives all the accolades and of course the gold medal. What about the athlete who finishes last? Two laps down and a good five minutes after the winner touched the crossing line. She did not win any medals - but she would take the standing applause from the Zürich crowd which witnessed this tremendous attitude. I was also part of the crowd standing and applauding this athlete, the 24-year old Norwegian Runa Falch. 

Twenty-five athletes took to the track in what was going to be a see-saw battle for the top places. The leader positions swung like a pendulum before the field settled in for the final three laps. There.. at that precise moment in about 800 metres to go saw the real heros emerging out of the pack or leaving rest of the pack behind. It was close between the first and second placed coming on to the last lap and in the final turn to the finish line - the winner was from Great Britain, the bronze medallist from the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in the 5000 metres. The crowd hailed to the endurance of Jo Pavey as she managed to get hold of the Union Jack flag from the spectators area. The runners-up, the duo from France finished close to Pavey but came short to take the top spot. 

Ok, this is usual right. Every race ends up having a winner, a runner-up and a second runner-up who then become the focus and leave rest of the athletes behind until the time when they all gather to compete another day. The way I saw - that particular race was all about the two athletes. The winner and the final finisher. The race, the approach, the struggles, the accolades, the time and even the age were all strikingly contrast with these two athletes. 

A gap of close to six minutes and a gap of 17 years separated Jo Pavey and Runa Falch. Jo Pavey who turns 41 next month is also a mother of two children - a inspirational run saw her take the first place and thereby scripting one of the success stories of this year´s European championships and in athletics. While Pavey´s achievements were in a league of her own, very few could connect with what she achieved yesterday. An outstanding achievement and something I was very fortunate to witness it live. How many such instances do you see in today´s world of sports? It is a dream… which many aspire and a handful of them go on to live it. 

                        Jo Pavey proudly displaying her colours on and off the track           Image Courtesy - Telegraph UK                                         

What about Runa Falch? Just as the presenter was interviewing Pavey on her spectacular win, Falch had just began her 25th lap - the final lap. She trailed right from the start and yet she went on and on and on. It was no surprise to see the crowd standing up and applauding Runa Falch when she ran her final 100 m. To me that said it all.

Who says winner takes it all?

Runa Falch all by herself about to complete her race and being cheered by the crowd.             Image Courtesy - nrk.no

It was theatrical and if finishing 24th would have hurt her, the strong sound of the crowd would have soothed all the pain she endured in order to finish the race. This run from Falch to me was more close to the spectators present than Pavey´s. To me personally, these two athletes demonstrated a great example. There is no age limit to winning and if you do need to win and share the same experience as Pavey did, then one has to be prepared to run many such runs like Falch did. It was one of those days when you lose steam, lose sense of purpose or even direction. Luckily for Falch - she lost her momentum on the running track and there after all she did was to follow her instincts; absorbing the pain, agony, running all by herself and completed the race. In sports or in any field, there is no prize for finishing last. It all comes down to perspectives. And my view is that - ´she is now a finisher and not a quitter´. 

        Runa Falch after completing the race.             Image Courtesy - nrk.no

FEDERER vs NOVAK - WIMBLEDON 2014

                                                                      A clash to remember                                         Source: ABC

In the end the satisfying part of watching a Wimbledon finals was that - it involved two humans at the peak of their individual skills exhibiting their repertoire, physical reserves that seemed invisible to themselves and acute mental awareness in spite of times when the title seemed to run away with the other person.

A LOOK BACK AT THE THIRD SET

My moment of the third set was the games leading up to the tie-breaker and the tie-breaker itself. Two clearly matched opponents - nullifying each other's strokes of geniuses. Then Novak wins a crucial point, he is excited and he urges the crowd to cheer him on, loud and more loud. He sensed, the third set was all his and that it was.

FEDERER GOES WILD

If looked in isolation, having missed the championship point, Djokovic was never the same player for the next five games. Trailing 2-5 and with opponent having a break point, Federer boxed his way out, cornering Novak to one corner or the other, exhibiting some of the aggressive tennis seen in the match. It was counter-attack on a player who started to grunt more, losing energy with each stroke. He did not have a clue and if the tie break would have gone Federer's way in the third set, it would have been curtains for Novak. It was that phase of the match, irrespective of who the opponent was - 'Federer was in a class of his own'. He won the set 7-5 and the match proceeds to the fifth set.

NOVAK GETS A BREAK

At the beginning of the final set if one were to have analysed the fitness levels of these two great athletes - the younger Novak (by six years) would lose hands down to Federer. It was advantage Federer all-over. Novak takes a medical time-out to sooth his aching calf and ankle muscles and to bring his mind in order. In boxer's term, he was just handed a series of 'deadly punches' which he just could not defend, denting his confidence a little. He was anything but cheerful in the fourth set and that spoke about his mental health - which was shattered by the assault of Federer. The momentum was with Federer and now the brakes have been applied by Djokovic.

THE HUSTLER

Federer was calm and went about his tennis in the final set with a similar approach as he did in the fourth set. Novak ensured he held on to his serve - which at that point was the only sensible thing to do. He had no chance whatsoever to score a point of Federer's serve - never mind breaking the same. Three games in which Federer served - he gave nothing at all to his Serbian opponent. On the other hand, in contrast Novak struggled and Federer's plan was to break Novak's serve early. He had his chances but Novak was better to fend any such threats. 4-3 to Djokovic and Federer to serve.

Up until that game, Novak was playing with minimum effort, doing just a little to defend and hold on to his serve - as though he knew he wanted to use his reserve energy some other time. He upped his ante in the eighth game and took the game to a far amount of distance - an indication that he was back.

He felt and it was seen, he could now dictate terms. He almost broke Federer's serve. The next sensible thing Novak did was to go 5-4 and then play his final set of cards. He knew, he can win if he can break Federer's serve right there in the tenth game. If it were to extend any further, he would lose it. Physically he looked much more drained than his Swiss opponent. As he was in the process of winning the ninth game, he urged the fans to cheer him. A similar trait - which kept him going in the third set.

    

Now, this sort of mindset is what keeps a champion like 'Novak' advance to his goal. Beyond a limit, exists a zone where his mental ability counter balances his physical ineptness. He sensed, this was it - Carpe Diem!! Novak broke the serve and Wimbledon was all his!

    

THE CHAMPION

Novak Djokovic won his second Wimbledon title and finally managed to erase his losing streak in the Grand Slam finals. He knew he had slipped on more than few occasions in the match and that was the beauty of this finals! His seventh title was something he would cherish a long time to come. He has won seven trophies out of fourteen finals that he has participated and a first against Roger Federer. He knew it was special! and he knew he had to snatch it from Roger - especially if you look how the last hour of this match panned out. He is courteous enough to say it in public, acknowledging his family, support staff and specially to Federer for handing over this championship to him.

THE JUICE

For Federer, he surprised himself to an extent that he could go this far a distance. Maybe it is to do with Wimbledon or maybe it is to do about him. Actually it is do with him. He along with three other champions come to my immediate mind as I write this. Michael Jordan, Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Schumacher. After all they have achieved in their respective sporting careers, having stayed on top for so long, the fear of losing the sheen from their illustrious career never came in their way - as long as they knew they were giving 100% and enjoyed the process of being a competitive athlete.

In the 1995 action thriller 'Heat' - Robert De Niro summons his gang of bank robbers (three) before committing one last heist. Though he is a criminal, he displays his humane touch asking his three buddies if they want to back out and live the rest of their lives with 'huge sums of money' they made and start a new life. He would not judge if they backed out. Val Kilmer says 'The bank is worth the risk, I need it brother'. De Niro turns to Tom Sizemore, who hesitates to back out - " Elaine takes good care of you. You got plenty put away. You got T-bonds, real estate. If I were you, I would be smart. I would cut loose of this."  Tom Sizemore looks in the eyes of De Niro, turns around to look at his other mates and turns to De Niro and says - "Well, you know. For me, the action is the juice, I'm in".

HALLMARK OF A PERFECT TEAM IN FORMULA ONE

List of Winners and Runners up from the same F1 team in a season

The F1 season of 2014 has been all about one team so far. The German automobile giant Mercedes on their own have finally made it big after four years of being in the wilderness. Barring the Canadian GP (won by Daniel Ricciardo) the rest of the seven races have been won by either of two Mercedes drivers. This season so-far has shown all the signs that Mercedes will end up gathering more wins unless the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari make tremendous progress.

MARK OF A GREAT TEAM - I believe F1 is a team sport. However, when looked at the history of driver's championships it tends to point out not all winning drivers were the best. Some had the best machinery and a lot of the drivers came through owing to their individual brilliance and of course not to forget the team work behind the scenes. To me, a great team is one - which manages to win the driver's championships, secure the constructor's championship and have your second driver placed second in the driver's championship points tally at the end of the season. Simple evaluation isn't it?

WHAT DOES HISTORY OF F1 TELLS US - In each decade, there were teams that dominated the proceedings irrespective of who drove in them. In other cases, teams hired two of the best drivers available. The first F1 world championship had the winner Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio lined up in one team. The team benefitted overall. The constructor's championships were awarded from 1958 and since then very few teams managed to dominate the scene continuously. The fights were often between drivers from various teams than between team-mates. In some cases, there were clear demarcation as to who's numero uno and the second driver (Ferrari of recent times) and in other cases strong rivalry between the teammates (Senna and Prost). Nevertheless, the latter scenario is not sustainable in the long run and the first case is a weak one if the driver is not efficient and quick.

HOW MANY?

From the inception of world championships in 1950 till the 2013 season, there have been only 18 seasons where teams had both their drivers finish in top two. I have made a snapshot capturing the details of these years.

SUMMARY!

The way it stands at the moment, the season might end up being the 19th such occasion and first for this decade. Red Bull Racing who dominated the championship for the past four years never managed to secure the 2nd place in the drivers championships - though they had the best machinery. Ferrari in its prime (2000-2004) managed to win five constructor's title and driver's championship in a row. Yet, only in 2002 and 2004 we saw Rubens Barrichello finishing second at the end of the season.

It isn't all about team work - drivers get paid huge sums of amount for their talent and this individual skill sets combined with enthusiasm of the team has so far managed to win more championships than compared with teams winning the constructors championship along with top two finishers in the driver's championships. In short - the best car and two of the best drivers doesn't guarantee you success. As long as humans are involved - even what seems perfect combination theoretically it is far-fetched (most times) from being one practically.

Back from Isolation - Indian Olympic Story

It was in 2012 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to take that drastic step - a decision which was necessary from administration point of view specifically at the conduct of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) post Commonwealth Games 2010.

There were huge cries, issues of false pride and other theatrics from Indian officials. The news of Indian Olympic Association being banned dominated the sports news segment for a day, or a two or if persisted a week and nothing more apart from the periodic cameos. It was usual business from then on. The corruption charges of the CWG 2010 went back to being a political matter than a sporting matter.

If CWG 2010 and various accusations are one hand; it is the manner in which the postmortem was conducted that irked many followers of Indian Olympics. Clearly, this was an administrative issue(s) and the so-called 'God fathers' of Indian Olympic movement ignored the media scrutiny and the threat from the IOC. They took that one extra step and elected candidates who were either charge sheeted or being prosecuted by Indian judiciary or on bail. Which era are they living in?

I believe the ban was justified. It tempered down the egos and the softened the temerarious officials - the tainted ones who put in their names without shame or consideration. Something had to happen and IOC made a bold move and banned the entire association till the time the internal crisis were resolved. A cut-off from the Olympic tree.

It took some time for the news to sink in, analyse, react and then formulate a game plan to get back into the Olympic fold. There were several mails exchanged and the pressure was less considering 2013 was a non-Olympic year. When the decision was finally taken, it was little late. The IOA as a organisation missed the Olympic train. 

Indian contingent classified as Independent Athletes marched into the Opening Ceremony under Olympic flag. These three athletes - a five time Olympian Shiv Keshavan, Himanshu Thakur and Nadeem Iqbal were the only ones to be 'independent' and without a national flag at the Sochi Winter Olympics. 

Indian Athletes under Olympic Flag at Sochi 2014 - Getty Images

One can script a drama surrounding these episodes and echoing various sentiments of many people involved in this. A new scene was shot two days ago when the new IOA officials were elected, ably observed by an IOC delegation headed by IOC member Robin Mitchell.

Narayna Ramachandran, President of the World Squash Federation and the brother of BCCI supremo N. Srinivasan, was elected as the new President; Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna chosen as the new Secretary General and Treasurer respectively.

"The IOC observers told the EB members of the IOC about the IOA elections being held in full respect of the recently passed NOC constitution, and this new constitution complies with all IOC requirements, including the main clause that no person convicted or charge-framed can run for a position within the organisation."

History was made at Sochi today - for the first time in Olympic chronicles that a suspension of an NOC has been lifted during the Olympic Games and with immediate effect.

What does this mean? The three independent athletes at the Sochi Games can now compete under Indian flag, can walk behind their national flag at the Closing ceremony and as a symbolic way of depicting the recognition of three Indian athletes - Indian flag will be raised at the Games village.

IOC officials have authored a perfect ending to this year old saga which will bring cheers to millions of sports fans in India and more so for the three athletes who are relieved to have seen this positive development.

Redemption is one thing, it is the next set of steps that are crucial. How different will the current set of administrators be from the previous incumbents?

Coming back from isolation is a small victory for Indian Olympic movement and there are many miles to cover before we can actually rejoice. For now, we are back and I only wish - it is to move forward.

Understanding Classical Chess through Viswanathan Anand & Co

If you ever wanted to know the meaning of 'concentration' - just Google in the name and you will find thousands of quotes and articles written on it. Concentration to me comes from self-learning  and embracing than merely reading. It is an adventure - shutting out the chaos outside and inside of you and remain focussed on the task at hand. I had a tryst with this virtue yesterday when I sat and watched a classical round of chess for just under six hours with just two small breaks!

I cannot remember when was the last time I sat through this patiently, concentrating on anything without moving around, talking or discussing; not having to click photographs or even murmur in few decibels to the neighbouring chaps.

There is a first for everything in this quotidian life we so carefully plan and strive to lead. Watching six of the top nine World champions of chess in action was one such thing. Chess as a sport is a not a new thing to me. As a kid, countless games were played with my sister just for the heck of it. In school, during the lunch breaks one could not resist but be a part of a chess playing pair giving advices and forming strategies. It was rapid chess or blitz chess at its best!

In 2009, Zürich Chess Club (one of the oldest in the world) hosted a grand tournament at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) which had world's top players assembled under one roof to the audience as a part of 200th anniversary of Zürich Chess Club. In company of my friend who also happened to a former national chess champion; we were thrilled to witness Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Viswanathan Anand, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, Boris Spassky and Veselin Topalov engaging the upcoming chess talents in a Champions Simultan.

The event in 2009 was what you call a 'sponsor's delight' - to have all these big names of chess opening up to the audience, signing autographs and also pose for photographs. It was a carnival of chess.

The last two days were much more sedate, formal and an atmosphere where chess is being talked about constantly. It is serious, tense and silent not just for few minutes - it goes on for hours. Players on board take few trips to the toilet, have a cup of hot green tea, a glass of water, order a shot of espresso, ingest their own bottled drinks, chew few nuts, stroll around, observe the other two games in progress apart from staring at the chess board strategising your next set of moves or wait for the opponent to make a move. They make eye contacts with the limited viewing public, not for long. It is sometimes best to get distracted, just to get out of the zone they are held within and come out fresh. After all this is a pitched battle on the board and focus is paramount. 

                                       At the beginning of his game with Levon Aronian                                         ©Rajan Thambehalli

I stood for close to 90 minutes watching the action unfold, seconds ticking ever so slowly - with eyes flickering around the three boards projected on screen. It is such an intense involvement that, I ended up concentrating only on the game between Viswanathan Anand and his Armenian opponent  Levon Aronian. On the other boards were the recently crowned World champion Magnus Carlsen with Boris Gelfand and Hikaru Nakamura competing with Fabiano Caruana.

On the front row of seating as a result of a seated guest vacating, I got my opportunity to sit - just in sight to the Indian Grandmaster and I was seated there for the next 200 minutes. In those six hours of watching him play, one could see a lot of moods being exhibited - none so in a manner which compromised his overall composure. It was a lesson personally - having to fathom different scales of concentration and steadiness of mind under stress and constantly come up with various permutations and combinations and be totally present on the action in progress. At times, it felt the only thing that ever moved was the timer clock.

I observed Anand and he would not show any signs of frustration - not even a hint of it. I do not know him personally to decode his silence. Alas, I caught him off-guard, a face of a frustrated mind appeared when he had made a mistake in one of his moves. Out of the chess world, such a behaviour would not have made people sit up and take notice. This chess tournament hall with beautiful chandeliers was different. Such is the peak of concentration these players go to - that any slightest dip is easily noticed. At least, this was the case with Anand. 

Chess is a strategy and an error is weighed in gold's loss. The initial four hours bore no result and went to the extra two hours. The game had 73 moves the last of which proved fatal to Anand's hopes. 

Viswanathan Anand discussing with Levon Aronian at the end of the game                ©Rajan Thambehalli

He has four  games in the classical round and the competition is tough. As far as the rankings go, he is ranked 9th and rest of the five participants are all placed above him - though, none comes close to him in experience.

   

Magnus Carlsen struggled initially and spent a lot of time staring clueless at the board - a fact he acknowledged at the press conference. With time, he gathered enough momentum to break the strong defence of Boris Gelfand and a got full point under four hours. Fabiano Caruana would have joined Magnus Carlsen at the top only if he had not made a error which put him in a defensive frame right till the end. His mental duel with Nakamura ended in a draw.

At the press conference, Anand was visibly unhappy with the outcome and left with his wife Aruna immediately after the conference. Chess is a mind game and the frame of mind often dictates the end result. He has seen better days and as a fan I hope those days are replicated in the next few matches he plays in. After having been in the chess world for more than 30 years, Anand surely knows  everyday is a new day.  

Return of number 13 in Formula One

One of the interesting aspects in most sports is the tradition of using numbers. The numbers become the identity of a person with time and motorsports is no different. What started as just a plain identity, the concept of numbering evolved and in 1996, FIA decided to make it official and more systematic. The numbers were given to teams in the order of their standings in the constructor's championships. Unless one team has a steady run of consecutive championships, the numbers would change each year. This year and hopefully for a longer duration, the drivers have been given the choice to choose their own numbers.

Personally, I like this concept as it creates a special bond between the athlete and his/her fan base. FIA's tryst with numbers has a long history, evolved over a period of time and now has a sense of logic moving forward. Most other popular sports have athletes bearing a particular number - a unique connection.

Formula One has seen a lot of changes with respect to the use of numbers as a means of one's identity. Going back in time - the numbers were allocated to cars on a race-by race basis either through lottery or by the order in which the entries were received.

In 1969, first noticeable change was seen with the world champion being given the 'Numero Uno'  while rest of the grid numbers were chosen on randomness. However, few teams did adopt a convention over a period of time, with the legendary number of 27 being associated with Ferrari for as long as 1996 before the rules were tweaked by the FIA.

We talk about superstitious being part of our daily lives, sports is no different. To me, use of superstitious practices in sports is an extension of personal lives. In Formula One, the curiosity and the myth surrounding around the number '13' is one such episode. Pastor Maldonado, the mercurial Venezuelan driver has opted the number '13' for the 2014 season on his Lotus livery. Looking at the history, this number was used sparingly in F1.

Since 1976, F1 has not seen the number '13' appearing on a car. Divina Galica, one of the five female F1 drivers used the supposedly 'unlucky' number for her maiden drive in F1 at the British Grand Prix in 1976. Blame it on bad omen or lack of pace on the car, she did not qualify. She did get a run for two more rounds in the 1978 season and both times she failed to qualify.

Only Solana Moises has the distinction of racing a Formula one race (Mexican GP, 1963) with the number '13' on his car. He did not have much success in the race, classified eleventh for completing 57 laps before his British Racing Motors (BRM) engine failed.

In general, we have many instances of deliberately avoiding the number '13' owing to an irrational belief called 'superstition'. Despite this popular notion, we have seen in the sporting world - number 13 being used by 'well-known' athletes.

The list goes this way - Wilt Chamberlain (famous basketball player and first to score 100 points in a game) and the most valuable player  (MVP) of NBA for 2005 and 2006, Steve Nash using the number 13. In football, we had German player Michael Ballack who wore the # 13 jersey for both Chelsea and his national team (of which latter he was the captain); the world record holder for highest number of matches appeared in the history of football, Kristine Lillie (352 matches for USA) worn the so-called dreaded #13.

Other notable mentions include - Alex Rodriguez, Billy Wagner, Omar Vizquel - the baseball players; Alessandro Nesta, the Italian footballer; Jake Scott, Dan Marino, Kurt Warner and Don Maynard the American football players; Mats Sundin and Pavel Datsyuk, the ice hockey players. However, they form a pool of exceptions in grander scheme of things and Formula One going by the history doesn't belong to this pool of exceptions.

The story surrounding the ill-fate associated with thirteen goes back a long way in motorsports. It all started in 1925 when a car bearing the number 13 met with an accident - and its driver Paul Torchy died at the site of Delange Grand Prix. The very next year, Count Giulo Masetti died of a car accident bearing the number '13'. It was then decided by the French Automobile club to eliminate the number '13' from the races.

In Formula One, Mauritz von Strachwitz tried his luck first in 1953 at the German Grand Prix, failed to qualify and as mentioned previously, when Galica Divina attempted to qualify her Surtees Cosworth bearing the number 13, she finished 28^th out of 26 cars that could be part of the race. 

Thus Brands Hatch, the site of 1976 Great Britain Grand Prix happened to be the last time one saw a Formula One car to have the number '13' on it. Hence in the previous system of awarding numbers to teams - FIA never gave the number '13'. Instead the seventh placed constructor received the numbers 14 and 15 to their respective drivers as opposed to numbers 13 and 14.

Australia 2014 - season opener in Melbourne. What will Maldonado do? Will he be able to change the perception of many cynics? Not to discount the past, Maldonado surely has a much secured drive than his predecessors who used the number thirteen. In that sense, it nullifies most of the myth surrounding this number.

After thirty seven years there has been an attempt to 'eliminate' the fear of number '13', known scientifically as 'Triskaidekaphobia' thanks to Pastor Maldonado. 

For now - let's wait and watch as the action unfolds in less than sixty days time.