Calcutta: They were the unsung heroes of the World Chess Championship at Bonn. Amongst Anand’s team of seconds was National Champion GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, who has worked with Anand since 2006.

The seconds — Peter Heine Nielsen, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Radoslav Wojtaszek, apart from Surya himself — literally burned the midnight oil on a line or a variation, which Anand intended to employ.

“We were well prepared in the sense that our team could surprise Kramnik in the choice of opening,” disclosed Surya when contacted over the phone on Thursday. “We would work together through the variations with a fine comb and apprise Anand about the next position, after breakfast.

“Anand’s understanding of the position was so good that he could come up with an idea which even the computer had given the go,” Surya added.

“It was a tough task working as his second as we worked all night and tried to grab 40 winks when the game was on, but it was worth the grind. You learn a lot from him and I have undoubtedly benefited from the experience. In fact, you learn a lot from Anand even without a chessboard,” Surya quipped.

“After the match yesterday (Wednesday) Anand took the whole team out for dinner to an Indian restaurant. The other seconds have developed a taste for Indian food and love desserts like Lassi and Kulfi” revealed the Bengal Grandmaster.