THE ONE MAN INDIAN CHESS REVOLUTION: VISHWANATHAN ANAND

Fondly called Vishy, the tiger of Madras, Vishwanathan Anand is the man of Chess, the game that originated in India. Anand is the Indian Chess Grandmaster, along with currently being the World Chess Champion and the second highest rated player in the world.

THE BIRTH OF A GENIUS

Anand was born on 11 December 1969, in Mayiladuthurai, a small town in Tamil Nadu. Shortly thereafter, the Tamil family shifted to Chennai, erstwhile Madras. The Chess-fever came from his mother, Susheela who was a Chess enthusiast. Anand learnt Chess at the tender age of six and stunned the experts while at game. His qualities of marvelous intuition and amazing speed at play left them open-mouthed.
Anand holds a degree in commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He lives in Collado Mediano in Spain with his spouse Aruna.

CHESS TITLES

Vishwanathan Anand bagged the title of Youngest National Champion at the age of 16. He also earned the popular, India’s first Grandmaster title at 18 by winning Shakti Finance International chess tournament held at Coimbatore, India. Anand has been described as the most versatile world champion as he is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Knockout, Tournament, Match, Rapid, and Blitz.

• Anand won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9 in 1983 at the age of 14
• In 1987, he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Championship
• Anand won the strongest tournament at that time, The Reggio Emilia in Italy, in 1991, ahead of Kasparov & Karpov
• Melody Amber tournament (1994 & 1997)
• A World Championship challenger in the PCA (New York 1995) & FIDE (1997 Lausanne) cycles
• Winner of the strongest knock out tournament in chess history in Groningen in December 1997
• Credit Suisse Masters (1997)
• Dos Hermanas (1997)
• Wijk Aan Zee(1998)
• Linares Super Torneo in 1998
• He also managed to beat Fritz, the popular chess software application in 1999
• Anand became the world champion in Chess for the first time in 2000 when he beat Spain’s Alexei Shirov
• The title went to him again in 2007, which he retained in 2008 and 2010 when he walked away with 1.2 million Euros as prize money

The list of his victories is endless and leaves one stunned. Vishwanathan Anand will face the next challenger, Boris Gelfand, the winner of the Candidates Tournament, for the World Chess Championship 2012.

HONORS

• 1985: Arjuna Award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess
• 1987: Padma Shri, National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award (Anand was the youngest recipient of Padma Shri)
• 1991-92: The first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honor
• 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008: Chess Oscar
• 1998: British Chess Federation ‘Book of the Year’ Award for his book ‘My Best Games of Chess’
• 1998: Sportstar Millennium Award, given by India’s premier Sports magazine
• 2000: Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian honor given by the Government of India
• 2001: Jameo de Oro, highest honor given by the Government of Lanzarote in Spain
• 2007: The first sportsperson to receive India’s second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan
• 2011: ‘Global Strategist Award’ for mastering many formats of World Chess Championships by NASSCOM

SOLELY FOR THE CHESSBOARD

Anand is a humble and down-to-earth being, despite his fame and stupendous achievements. He has always stayed away from political and psychological strategies and focuses solely on the chessboard. He is a well-liked sportsperson who has inspired many players of next generation.

Anand does a lot of work to promote the game of Chess as well. He joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting and supporting India’s elite sportspersons and potential young talent. On 24 December 2010, he was the guest of honor on the grounds of Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, where 20486 players created a new world record of simultaneous chess play at a single venue. Also, Anand was the only sportsperson to have been invited for the very exclusive dinner that Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh hosted for US President Barack Obama on November 7 2010.
There is none who can ‘Checkmate’ Vishwanathan Anand!

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