There are some aspects of work you need to keep working on and no matter what environment you are in. Continuous learning is very important. It's what I call 'competitive tension', which is about having a competition around.

When I started out playing chess as a kid I thought I should be world champion. As a kid you have no idea what that means and you only sort of picture it. It is hard to imagine that I waited all those years and it happened in a late stage of my career.

I keep forcing, I keep learning new things in the game, and so far I have been taking challenges as they come.

In 1996, the players at the VSB tournament in Amsterdam sent me a card for my wedding with this dedication, 'Anand congrats on your wedding. You were a great player, now be ready to lose 50 points'.

Preparedness for a game that usually lasts four-five hours requires good physical condition and also steady nerves.

A win is a win, which is about that particular moment.

When there's an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It's easy that way because then you don't have to worry about anything else.