Viswanathan Anand
Encyclopedia
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess
Grandmaster
, the current World Chess Champion
, and currently second highest rated player in the world.
He held the FIDE World Chess Championship
from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion
in 2007 and defended his title
against Vladimir Kramnik
in 2008. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov
. As the reigning champion, he will face Boris Gelfand
, the winner of the Candidates Tournament
, for the World Chess Championship 2012.
Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating
list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996. Anand regained the world number one ranking in November 1, 2010, having defeated the reigning world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen
in the Bilbao Masters, but had to concede the top spot back to Carlsen in July 2011.
Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1987. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honor. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan
, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history.
Anand has been described by Lubomir Kavalek as the most versatile world champion ever, since Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Knockout, Tournament, Match, Rapid, and Blitz.
In an August 31, 2011 interview with Vlad Tkachiev, Vladimir Kramnik
(ex-World Champion 2000 to 2006) said that "I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess", "I think that in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov", and "In the last 5-6 years he’s made a qualitative leap that’s made it possible to consider him one of the greatest chess players".
, a small town in Tamil Nadu
, India in a Tamil family. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Chennai, erstwhile Madras, where he grew up. His father, Viswanathan Iyer, is a retired General Manager of Southern Railways, and his mother Susheela, housewife and chess/film/club aficionado and an influential socialite. He has an elder brother, Shivakumar who is a manager at Crompton Greaves
in India and an elder sister Anuradha who is a lecturer at the University of Michigan
. Anand is 11 years younger than his sister and 13 years younger than his brother.
He was taught to play chess by his mother and a close family friend named Deepa Ramakrishnan. He described his start in chess in a conversation with Susan Polgar
:
Anand did his schooling in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School
, Egmore
, Chennai
and holds a degree in commerce
from Loyola College, Chennai
. His hobbies are reading, swimming, and listening to music. He is married to Aruna Anand and has a son born on April 9, 2011. Anand's son is named Akhil and in the Tamil tradition will be called "Anand Akhil" (no surname). The family is now based in Chennai, India.
In August 2010, Anand 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 Anand was guest of honor on the grounds of Gujarat university, Ahmedabad, where 20,486 players created a new world record of simultaneous chess play at single venue.
and won that title two more times. He played games at blitz
speed. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship
. In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster by winning Shakti Finance International chess tournament held in Coimbatore
, India. He was awarded Padma Shri
at the age of 18.
"Vishy", as he is sometimes called by his friends, burst upon the upper echelons of the chess scene in the early 1990s, winning such tournaments as Reggio Emilia
1991 (ahead of Garry Kasparov
and Anatoly Karpov
). Playing at such a high level did not slow him down, and he continued to play games at blitz speed.
In the World Chess Championship 1993
cycle Anand qualified for his first Candidates Tournament
, winning his first match but narrowly losing his quarter-final match to Anatoly Karpov.
In 1994–95 Anand and Gata Kamsky
dominated the qualifying cycles for the rival FIDE and PCA
world championships. In the FIDE cycle (FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
), Anand lost his quarter-final match to Kamsky after leading early. Kamsky went on to lose the 1996 FIDE championship match against Karpov.
In the 1995 PCA cycle, Anand won matches against Oleg Romanishin
and Michael Adams without a loss, then avenged his FIDE loss by defeating Gata Kamsky
in the Candidates final. In 1995, he played the PCA World Chess Championship 1995 against Kasparov in New York City's World Trade Center
. After an opening run of eight draws (a record for the opening of a world championship match), Anand won game nine with a powerful exchange sacrifice, but then lost four of the next five. He lost the match 10½–7½.
In the 1998 FIDE cycle, the reigning champion Karpov was granted direct seeding by FIDE into the final against the winner of the seven-round single elimination Candidates tournament. The psychological and physical advantage gained by Karpov from this decision caused significant controversy, leading to the withdrawal of future World Champion Vladimir Kramnik
from the candidates tournament. Anand won the candidates tournament, defeating Michael Adams in the final, and immediately faced a well-rested Karpov for the championship. Despite this tremendous disadvantage for Anand, which he described as being "brought in a coffin" to play Karpov, Anand was able to draw the regular match 3-3, forcing a rapid playoff. However, the rapid playoff was won 2-0 by Karpov, allowing him to defend his FIDE championship.
in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov
3½–0½ in the final match held at Tehran
, thereby becoming the first Indian to win that title.
He failed to defend the title in 2002, losing in the semifinals to Vassily Ivanchuk. The 2002 FIDE world championship was ultimately won by Ruslan Ponomariov
.
Anand tied for second with Peter Svidler
in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
with 8½ points out of 14 games, 1½ points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov
.
held in Mexico City
. He won the double round-robin tournament with a final score of 9 out of 14 points, a full point ahead of joint second place finishers Vladimir Kramnik
and Boris Gelfand
.
In 2000, when Anand won the FIDE World Championship, there was also the rival "Classical" World Championship, held by Kramnik. By 2007, the world championship had been reunified, so Anand's victory in Mexico City made him undisputed World Chess Champion. He became the first undisputed champion to win the title in a tournament, rather than in matchplay, since Mikhail Botvinnik
in 1948.
In October 2007, Anand said he liked the double round robin championship format (as used in the 2007 championship in Mexico City), and that the right of Kramnik to automatically challenge for the title was "ridiculous".
held between 14–29 October in Bonn
, Germany. The winner was to be the first to score 6½ points in the twelve-game match. Anand won by scoring 6½ points in 11 games, having won three of the first six games (two with the black pieces). After the tenth game, Anand led 6–4 and needed only a draw in either of the last two games to win the match. In the eleventh game, Kramnik played the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Once the players traded queens, Kramnik offered a draw after 24 moves since he had no winning chances in the endgame.
Final Game
Anand (2783) – Kramnik (2772), Wch Bonn GER (11), 29.10.2008:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0-0-0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3
On his winning the championship his mother—and his first coach—said "To me, it was like the first chess match he won in a school tournament. It's just the same, only the degree has changed."
Responding to Anand's win, Garry Kasparov said "A great result for Anand and for chess. Vishy deserved the win in every way and I'm very happy for him. It will not be easy for the younger generation to push him aside... Anand out-prepared Kramnik completely. In this way it reminded me of my match with Kramnik in London 2000. Like I was then, Kramnik may have been very well prepared for this match, but we never saw it." In 2010 Anand donated his gold medal to the charitable organisation "The Foundation
" to be auctioned off for the benefit of underprivileged children.
, Anand, who had booked on the flight Frankfurt-Sofia on April 16, was stranded due to the cancellation of all flights following the volcano ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull
. Anand asked for a three day postponement, which the Bulgarian organisers refused on April 19. Anand eventually reached Sofia on April 20, after an exhausting 40-hour road journey.
Consequently, the first game was delayed by one day.
The match consisted of 12 games. After 11 games the score was tied at 5½-5½. Anand won game 12 on the Black side of a Queen's Gambit Declined
to win the match and retain the World Championship. In game 12, after Topalov's dubious 31st and 32nd moves, Anand was able to achieve a strong attack against Topalov's relatively exposed king. Topalov subsequently resigned.
, the winner of the 2011 Candidates Matches.
Boris Gelfand
won the final match of Candidates Matches against Alexander Grischuk
of Russia.
This will be the first time Anand would play against someone older than him when he defends his world championship title.
and billed it as the World Rapid Chess Championship. Each player had 25 minutes at the start of the game, with an additional ten seconds after each move. Anand won this event ahead of ten of the other top twelve players in the world, beating Kramnik in the final. His main recent titles in this category are at: Corsica (six years in a row from 1999 through 2005), Chess Classic (nine years in a row from 2000 through 2008), Leon 2005, Eurotel 2002, Fujitsu Giants 2002 and the Melody Amber
(five times, and he won the rapid portion of Melody Amber seven times). In the Melody Amber
2007, Anand did not lose a single game in the rapid section, and scored 8½
/11, two more than the runners-up, for a performance rating in the rapid section of 2939. In most tournament time control games that Anand plays, he has more time left than his opponent at the end of the game. He lost on time in one game, to Gata Kamsky
. Otherwise, he took advantage of the rule allowing players in time trouble to use dashes instead of the move notation during the last four minutes only once, in the game Anand versus Svidler at the MTel Masters 2006.
tournaments in Leon, Spain, after Garry Kasparov
introduced this form of chess in 1998, and is widely recognized as the world's best Advanced Chess player, where humans may consult a computer to aid in their calculation of variations.
Anand has won the Chess Oscar
in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a worldwide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64.
His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001.
Anand's recent tournament successes include the Corus chess tournament
in 2006 (tied with Veselin Topalov), Dortmund
in 2004, and Linares
in 2007 and 2008. He has won the annual event Monaco
Amber Blindfold
and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. He is also the only player to win the blind and rapid sections of the Amber tournament in the same year (twice: in 1997 and 2005). He is the first player to have achieved victories in each of the three big chess supertournaments: Corus
(1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006), Linares
(1998, 2007, 2008), Dortmund
(1996, 2000, 2004).
In 2007 he won the Grenkeleasing Rapid championship, which he won for the tenth time defeating Armenian GM Levon Aronian
. Incidentally, just a few days before Aronian had defeated Anand in the Chess960
final.
In March 2007, Anand won the Linares chess tournament
and it was widely believed that he would be ranked world No.1 in the FIDE Elo rating list for April 2007. However, Anand was placed No.2 in the initial list released because the Linares result was not included. FIDE subsequently announced that the Linares results would be included after all, making Anand number one in the April 2007 list.
Anand won the Mainz 2008 Supertournament Championship by defeating rising star Magnus Carlsen
, earning his eleventh title in that event.
list, Anand was ranked first in the world for the first time, and he held the number one spot in all ratings lists but one since then until July 2008, the exception being the January 2008 list, where he was rated No. 2 behind Vladimir Kramnik
(equal rating, but Kramnik held the No. 1 spot due to more games played). He dropped to No. 5 in the October 2008 list, the first time he had been outside the top 3 since July 1996.
In 2010, Anand announced that he would expand his tournament schedule, beginning in late 2010, in an effort to regain the world number one ranking from Magnus Carlsen
. He achieved that goal on November 1, 2010 list with a rating of 2804, two points ahead of Magnus Carlsen
, but was once again overtaken by Carlsen in July 2011.
, Vladimir Kramnik
, and Magnus Carlsen
, all rivals for the World Championship throughout Anand's career, each aided him in preparing for the World Chess Championship 2010. Anand is sometimes known as the "Tiger of Madras". Anand was the only sportsperson to have been invited for the dinner hosted by the Indian PM Manmohan Singh
for US President Barack Obama
on November 7, 2010.
because of confusion over his citizenship status, however later Kapil Sibal
, Minister of Human Resource Development
apologised and said "There is no issue on the matter as Anand has agreed to accept the degree at a convenient time depending on his availability". According to The Hindu Anand finally refused to accept the doctorate.
in 2000, Anand (White) defeated Grandmaster Viktor Bologan (Black). Here are the moves (analysis by Grandmaster Ľubomír Ftáčnik
):
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 c5 15. d5 c4 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Nf5 Kh8 18. g4 Ng8 19. Qd2 Nc5 20. Be3 Bc8 21. Ng3 Rb8 22. Kg2 a5 23. a3 Ne7 24. Rh1 Ng6 25. g5! b4!?
26. axb4 axb4 27. cxb4 Na6 28. Ra4 Nf4+ 29. Bxf4 exf4 30. Nh5 Qb6 31. Qxf4 Nxb4 32. Bb1 Rb7 33. Ra3 Rc7 34. Rd1 Na6 35. Nd4 Qxb2 36. Rg3 c3 (see diagram) 37. Nf6!! Re5
38. g6! fxg6 39. Nd7 Be7 40. Nxe5 dxe5 41. Qf7 h6 42. Qe8+ 1–0
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
, the current World Chess Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
, and currently second highest rated player in the world.
He held the FIDE World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion
World Chess Championship 2007
The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007 to decide the world champion in the board game chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament....
in 2007 and defended his title
World Chess Championship 2008
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
against Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
in 2008. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
. As the reigning champion, he will face Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
, the winner of the Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
, for the World Chess Championship 2012.
Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating
Elo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996. Anand regained the world number one ranking in November 1, 2010, having defeated the reigning world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
in the Bilbao Masters, but had to concede the top spot back to Carlsen in July 2011.
Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1987. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words "Khel Ratna" literally mean "Sports Gem" in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash...
Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honor. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...
, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history.
Anand has been described by Lubomir Kavalek as the most versatile world champion ever, since Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Knockout, Tournament, Match, Rapid, and Blitz.
In an August 31, 2011 interview with Vlad Tkachiev, Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
(ex-World Champion 2000 to 2006) said that "I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess", "I think that in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov", and "In the last 5-6 years he’s made a qualitative leap that’s made it possible to consider him one of the greatest chess players".
Personal life
Anand was born on 11 December 1969 in MayiladuthuraiMayiladuthurai
Mayiladuthurai , formerly known by its Sanskrit names Māyavaram and Mayūram is a town in the Nagapattinam District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Mayiladuthurai taluk of Nagapattinam district and is the second-largest town in the district...
, a small town in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India in a Tamil family. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Chennai, erstwhile Madras, where he grew up. His father, Viswanathan Iyer, is a retired General Manager of Southern Railways, and his mother Susheela, housewife and chess/film/club aficionado and an influential socialite. He has an elder brother, Shivakumar who is a manager at Crompton Greaves
Crompton Greaves
Crompton Greaves is an Indian multinational engaged in design, manufacturing, and marketing of products related to power generation, transmission, and distribution based in Mumbai. Its part of Avantha Group. - History :...
in India and an elder sister Anuradha who is a lecturer at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. Anand is 11 years younger than his sister and 13 years younger than his brother.
He was taught to play chess by his mother and a close family friend named Deepa Ramakrishnan. He described his start in chess in a conversation with Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster...
:
Anand did his schooling in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School is located in Egmore, Chennai. The school was established in July 1958 with an initial strength of 140 students and Fr.Mallon as the Principal and has since grown to a strength of over 2700 students...
, Egmore
Egmore
-Main places:* Chennai Egmore railway station.* Office of the commissioner of Greater Chennai Police department.* Government Museum, Chennai.* Connemara Public Library, one of the biggest libraries in India.* National Art Gallery...
, Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and holds a degree in commerce
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. The degree is also known as the Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, or BCA...
from Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College is a Jesuit institution in Chennai, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates and offers degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and commerce. It is an autonomous institution affiliated with the University of Madras.-History:...
. His hobbies are reading, swimming, and listening to music. He is married to Aruna Anand and has a son born on April 9, 2011. Anand's son is named Akhil and in the Tamil tradition will be called "Anand Akhil" (no surname). The family is now based in Chennai, India.
In August 2010, Anand joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest
Olympic Gold Quest
Olympic Gold Quest is a program of the Foundation Of Sports And Games , started by Indian sporting icons Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone to identify and support Indian athletes with a proven track record and who have the potential to win Olympic gold medals...
, a foundation for promoting and supporting India's elite sportspersons and potential young talent. On 24 December 2010 Anand was guest of honor on the grounds of Gujarat university, Ahmedabad, where 20,486 players created a new world record of simultaneous chess play at single venue.
Early career
Anand's rise in the Indian chess world was meteoric. National level success came early for him when he won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9 in 1983 at the age of fourteen. He became the youngest Indian to win the title of International Master at the age of fifteen, in 1984. At the age of sixteen he became the national chess championIndian Chess Championship
The Indian Chess Championship is a yearly national chess championship of India. It was established in 1955 by the Andhra State Chess Association as a two-yearly event, but since 1971 it has been played yearly. The first edition was held in Eluru from May 15-May 28 and was jointly won by Ramchandra...
and won that title two more times. He played games at blitz
Blitz chess
Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, sudden death, speed chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60 to 180 minutes per player.-Overview:The different...
speed. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
. In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster by winning Shakti Finance International chess tournament held in Coimbatore
Coimbatore
Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
, India. He was awarded Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
at the age of 18.
"Vishy", as he is sometimes called by his friends, burst upon the upper echelons of the chess scene in the early 1990s, winning such tournaments as Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia chess tournament
The Reggio Emilia chess tournament is a chess tournament played in Reggio Emilia, Italy. In Italian the tournament is called Torneo di Capodanno , as it starts just after Christmas and ends on the day of Epiphany...
1991 (ahead of Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
and Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
). Playing at such a high level did not slow him down, and he continued to play games at blitz speed.
In the World Chess Championship 1993
World Chess Championship 1993
The World Chess Championship 1993 was held from 1990 to 1993. It was one of the most controversial in history, with incumbent World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, and official challenger Nigel Short, splitting from FIDE, the official world governing body of chess, and playing their title match...
cycle Anand qualified for his first Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
, winning his first match but narrowly losing his quarter-final match to Anatoly Karpov.
In 1994–95 Anand and Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
dominated the qualifying cycles for the rival FIDE and PCA
Professional Chess Association
The Professional Chess Association , which existed between 1993 and 1996, was a rival organisation to FIDE, the international chess organization...
world championships. In the FIDE cycle (FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 was a chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the World Chess Champion.-Background:At the time the World Chess Champion title was split....
), Anand lost his quarter-final match to Kamsky after leading early. Kamsky went on to lose the 1996 FIDE championship match against Karpov.
In the 1995 PCA cycle, Anand won matches against Oleg Romanishin
Oleg Romanishin
Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and former European junior champion.Many honours and awards were bestowed on him as a young man. After winning the European Junior Championship in 1973, he became an International Master the same year...
and Michael Adams without a loss, then avenged his FIDE loss by defeating Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
in the Candidates final. In 1995, he played the PCA World Chess Championship 1995 against Kasparov in New York City's World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. After an opening run of eight draws (a record for the opening of a world championship match), Anand won game nine with a powerful exchange sacrifice, but then lost four of the next five. He lost the match 10½–7½.
In the 1998 FIDE cycle, the reigning champion Karpov was granted direct seeding by FIDE into the final against the winner of the seven-round single elimination Candidates tournament. The psychological and physical advantage gained by Karpov from this decision caused significant controversy, leading to the withdrawal of future World Champion Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
from the candidates tournament. Anand won the candidates tournament, defeating Michael Adams in the final, and immediately faced a well-rested Karpov for the championship. Despite this tremendous disadvantage for Anand, which he described as being "brought in a coffin" to play Karpov, Anand was able to draw the regular match 3-3, forcing a rapid playoff. However, the rapid playoff was won 2-0 by Karpov, allowing him to defend his FIDE championship.
FIDE World Champion 2000
After several near misses, Anand won the FIDE World Chess ChampionshipWorld Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
3½–0½ in the final match held at Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, thereby becoming the first Indian to win that title.
He failed to defend the title in 2002, losing in the semifinals to Vassily Ivanchuk. The 2002 FIDE world championship was ultimately won by Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE World Champion.-Early career:Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just...
.
Anand tied for second with Peter Svidler
Peter Svidler
Peter Veniaminovich Svidler is a Russian chess grandmaster.He is six-time Russian champion ....
in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
with 8½ points out of 14 games, 1½ points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
.
World Champion 2007
In September 2007 Anand became World Champion again by winning that year's FIDE World Championship TournamentWorld Chess Championship 2007
The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007 to decide the world champion in the board game chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament....
held in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He won the double round-robin tournament with a final score of 9 out of 14 points, a full point ahead of joint second place finishers Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
and Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
.
In 2000, when Anand won the FIDE World Championship, there was also the rival "Classical" World Championship, held by Kramnik. By 2007, the world championship had been reunified, so Anand's victory in Mexico City made him undisputed World Chess Champion. He became the first undisputed champion to win the title in a tournament, rather than in matchplay, since Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
in 1948.
In October 2007, Anand said he liked the double round robin championship format (as used in the 2007 championship in Mexico City), and that the right of Kramnik to automatically challenge for the title was "ridiculous".
World Champion 2008
Anand convincingly defended the title against Kramnik in the World Chess Championship 2008World Chess Championship 2008
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
held between 14–29 October in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Germany. The winner was to be the first to score 6½ points in the twelve-game match. Anand won by scoring 6½ points in 11 games, having won three of the first six games (two with the black pieces). After the tenth game, Anand led 6–4 and needed only a draw in either of the last two games to win the match. In the eleventh game, Kramnik played the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Once the players traded queens, Kramnik offered a draw after 24 moves since he had no winning chances in the endgame.
Final Game
Anand (2783) – Kramnik (2772), Wch Bonn GER (11), 29.10.2008:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0-0-0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3
On his winning the championship his mother—and his first coach—said "To me, it was like the first chess match he won in a school tournament. It's just the same, only the degree has changed."
Responding to Anand's win, Garry Kasparov said "A great result for Anand and for chess. Vishy deserved the win in every way and I'm very happy for him. It will not be easy for the younger generation to push him aside... Anand out-prepared Kramnik completely. In this way it reminded me of my match with Kramnik in London 2000. Like I was then, Kramnik may have been very well prepared for this match, but we never saw it." In 2010 Anand donated his gold medal to the charitable organisation "The Foundation
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
" to be auctioned off for the benefit of underprivileged children.
World Champion 2010
Prior to the World Chess Championship 2010 match with Veselin TopalovVeselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
, Anand, who had booked on the flight Frankfurt-Sofia on April 16, was stranded due to the cancellation of all flights following the volcano ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were volcanic events at Eyjafjöll in Iceland which, although relatively small for volcanic eruptions, caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption...
. Anand asked for a three day postponement, which the Bulgarian organisers refused on April 19. Anand eventually reached Sofia on April 20, after an exhausting 40-hour road journey.
Consequently, the first game was delayed by one day.
The match consisted of 12 games. After 11 games the score was tied at 5½-5½. Anand won game 12 on the Black side of a Queen's Gambit Declined
Queen's Gambit Declined
The Queen's Gambit Declined is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:This is known as the Orthodox Line of the Queen's Gambit Declined...
to win the match and retain the World Championship. In game 12, after Topalov's dubious 31st and 32nd moves, Anand was able to achieve a strong attack against Topalov's relatively exposed king. Topalov subsequently resigned.
World Championship 2012
As a result of Anand's victory in the World Chess Championship 2010, he will defend his title in the World Chess Championship 2012; the location of the event is Moscow. His opponent will be Boris GelfandBoris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
, the winner of the 2011 Candidates Matches.
Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
won the final match of Candidates Matches against Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster and Russian Champion in 2009.-Chess career:In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, Grischuk he made it to the semifinals, losing to Alexei Shirov....
of Russia.
This will be the first time Anand would play against someone older than him when he defends his world championship title.
FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion 2003
In October 2003, the governing body of chess, FIDE, organized a rapid time control tournament in Cap d'AgdeCap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde is the seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean sea in the département of Hérault, within the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Agde can be reached by TGV SNCF train direct from Paris or Lille whilst the closest airports are Béziers-Cap d'Agde en Languedoc, with...
and billed it as the World Rapid Chess Championship. Each player had 25 minutes at the start of the game, with an additional ten seconds after each move. Anand won this event ahead of ten of the other top twelve players in the world, beating Kramnik in the final. His main recent titles in this category are at: Corsica (six years in a row from 1999 through 2005), Chess Classic (nine years in a row from 2000 through 2008), Leon 2005, Eurotel 2002, Fujitsu Giants 2002 and the Melody Amber
Melody Amber
The Amber chess tournament was an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 to 2011. Since the second edition, the event uniquely combined blindfold chess and speed chess, and has been held in Monte Carlo...
(five times, and he won the rapid portion of Melody Amber seven times). In the Melody Amber
Melody Amber
The Amber chess tournament was an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 to 2011. Since the second edition, the event uniquely combined blindfold chess and speed chess, and has been held in Monte Carlo...
2007, Anand did not lose a single game in the rapid section, and scored 8½
/11, two more than the runners-up, for a performance rating in the rapid section of 2939. In most tournament time control games that Anand plays, he has more time left than his opponent at the end of the game. He lost on time in one game, to Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
. Otherwise, he took advantage of the rule allowing players in time trouble to use dashes instead of the move notation during the last four minutes only once, in the game Anand versus Svidler at the MTel Masters 2006.
Other results
Anand won three consecutive Advanced ChessAdvanced Chess
Advanced Chess is a relatively new form of chess, wherein each human player uses a computer chess program to help him explore the possible results of candidate moves...
tournaments in Leon, Spain, after Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
introduced this form of chess in 1998, and is widely recognized as the world's best Advanced Chess player, where humans may consult a computer to aid in their calculation of variations.
Anand has won the Chess Oscar
Chess Oscar
Chess Oscar is an international award given to the best chess player every year. The winner is selected by a poll of chess experts across the world, including Grandmasters...
in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a worldwide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64.
His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001.
Anand's recent tournament successes include the Corus chess tournament
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
in 2006 (tied with Veselin Topalov), Dortmund
Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting
The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany.Dortmund is an invite-only event, and only the strongest grandmasters are invited...
in 2004, and Linares
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
in 2007 and 2008. He has won the annual event Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
Amber Blindfold
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. He is also the only player to win the blind and rapid sections of the Amber tournament in the same year (twice: in 1997 and 2005). He is the first player to have achieved victories in each of the three big chess supertournaments: Corus
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
(1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006), Linares
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
(1998, 2007, 2008), Dortmund
Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting
The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany.Dortmund is an invite-only event, and only the strongest grandmasters are invited...
(1996, 2000, 2004).
In 2007 he won the Grenkeleasing Rapid championship, which he won for the tenth time defeating Armenian GM Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
. Incidentally, just a few days before Aronian had defeated Anand in the Chess960
Chess960
Chess960 is a chess variant invented and advocated by former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, originally announced on June 19, 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It employs the same board and pieces as standard chess, but the starting position of the pieces is randomized along the players' home...
final.
In March 2007, Anand won the Linares chess tournament
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
and it was widely believed that he would be ranked world No.1 in the FIDE Elo rating list for April 2007. However, Anand was placed No.2 in the initial list released because the Linares result was not included. FIDE subsequently announced that the Linares results would be included after all, making Anand number one in the April 2007 list.
Anand won the Mainz 2008 Supertournament Championship by defeating rising star Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
, earning his eleventh title in that event.
Rating
In the April 2007 FIDE Elo ratingElo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
list, Anand was ranked first in the world for the first time, and he held the number one spot in all ratings lists but one since then until July 2008, the exception being the January 2008 list, where he was rated No. 2 behind Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
(equal rating, but Kramnik held the No. 1 spot due to more games played). He dropped to No. 5 in the October 2008 list, the first time he had been outside the top 3 since July 1996.
In 2010, Anand announced that he would expand his tournament schedule, beginning in late 2010, in an effort to regain the world number one ranking from Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
. He achieved that goal on November 1, 2010 list with a rating of 2804, two points ahead of Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
, but was once again overtaken by Carlsen in July 2011.
Personality
Anand has been viewed as an unassuming person with a reputation for refraining from political and psychological ploys and focussing solely on the chessboard. This has made him a well-liked figure throughout the chess world for two decades, evidenced by the fact that Garry KasparovGarry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
, and Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
, all rivals for the World Championship throughout Anand's career, each aided him in preparing for the World Chess Championship 2010. Anand is sometimes known as the "Tiger of Madras". Anand was the only sportsperson to have been invited for the dinner hosted by the Indian PM Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
for US President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on November 7, 2010.
Controversies
Anand was denied an honorary doctorate from University of HyderabadUniversity of Hyderabad
The University of Hyderabad is a post-graduate teaching and research institute in India. It was established by an act of the Parliament in 1974 as a Central University. The university also offers courses under distance learning programs...
because of confusion over his citizenship status, however later Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal is an Indian politician and lawyer. He is currently the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He also held the two ministries Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet...
, Minister of Human Resource Development
Minister of Human Resource Development (India)
The Minister of Human Resource Development is the head of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India.Currently Kapil Sibal hold the office since May 22, 2009....
apologised and said "There is no issue on the matter as Anand has agreed to accept the degree at a convenient time depending on his availability". According to The Hindu Anand finally refused to accept the doctorate.
Notable tournament victories
- 1986 Arab-Asian International Chess Championship 1st
- 1987 Sakthi Finance Grandmasters Chess Tournament 1st
- 1988 51st Hoogovens Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1st
- 1989 2nd Asian Active Chess Championship, Hong Kong 1st
- 1990 Asian Zonal Championship Gold Medal
- 1990 Manchester Chess Festival, Manchester 1st
- 1990 Triveni Super Grandmasters Tournament, Delhi Joint 1st
- 1991 World Chess Championship, Brussels Quarter Finalist
- 1992 Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament, Reggio Emilia 1st
- 1992 Goodrich Open International Tournament, Calcutta 1st
- 1992 Linares match Anand vs Vassily Ivanchuk 5:3
- 1992 Alekhine Memorial, Moscow
- 1993 PCA Interzonal, Groningen 1st
- 1994 Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco 1st
- 1994 World Championship Candidates Cycle, Linares
- 1994 PCA Grand Prix, Moscow 1st
- 1995 PCA Candidates Final, Las Palmas
- 1996 Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund (Joint 1st with Kramnik)
- 1996 Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva 1st
- 1996 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon
- 1997 Torneo de Ajedrex, Dos Hermanes 1st.
- 1997 Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco 1st
- 1997 Aegon Man vs Computers chess event won 4:2
- 1997 Chess Classic Rapid Tournament, Frankfurt
- 1997 Invesbanka Chess tournament, Belgrade 1st
- 1997 Credit Suisse Classic Tournament, Biel 1st
- 1997 Knock-Out Championship, Groningen
- 1998 FIDE World Chess Championship Finalist
- 1998 60th Hoogoven's Schaak Tornoi, Wijk aan Zee 1st
- 1998 Torneo International De Ajedrez, Linares 1st
- 1998 Torneo Magitral Communidad De Madrid, Madrid 1st
- 1998 Siemens Nixdorf Duell (Rapid), Frankfurt 1st
- 1998 Fontys-Tilburg International Chess Tournament 1st
- 1999 Wydra Memorial Chess (Rapid), Haifa 1st
- 1999 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon beat Karpov 5:1
- 2000 Wydra International Tournament (Rapid), Haifa 1st
- 2000 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon beat Shirov 1½:½
- 2000 Fujitsu Siemens Giants Chess (Rapid), Frankfurt 1st
- 2000 Corsica Masters (Rapid), Corsica 1st
- 2003 65th Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1st
- 2004 66th Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1st
- 2006 68th Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee (Joint 1st with Topalov)
- 2007 Linares Chess Tournament, Linares 1st
- 2007 FIDE World Championship Tournament, Mexico City 1st
- 2008 Linares Chess Tournament, Linares 1st
- 2011 Leon Chess Tournament, beat Shirov 4.5:1.5 (8th win in this tournament)
- 2011 Botvinnik Memorial, Moscow, 1st
- 2011 Corsica Masters Knockout (Rapid), Corsica 1st
Awards
Anand has received many national and international awards.- Arjuna awardArjuna awardThe Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll....
for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess in 1985. - Padma ShriPadma ShriPadma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
, National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1987. - The inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel RatnaRajiv Gandhi Khel RatnaThe Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words "Khel Ratna" literally mean "Sports Gem" in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash...
Award, India's highest sporting honour in the year 1991–1992. - British Chess Federation 'Book of the Year' Award in 1998 for his book My Best Games of Chess.
- Padma BhushanPadma BhushanThe Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
- Third highest civilian award awarded by Government of IndiaGovernment of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in 2000. - Jameo de Oro the highest honour given by the Government of Lanzarote in Spain on 25 April 2001. The award is given to illustrious personalities with extraordinary achievements.
- Chess OscarChess OscarChess Oscar is an international award given to the best chess player every year. The winner is selected by a poll of chess experts across the world, including Grandmasters...
(1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008). - Sportstar Millennium Award in 1998, from India's premier Sports magazine for being the sportperson of the millennium.
- Padma VibhushanPadma VibhushanThe Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...
- Second highest civilian award awarded by Government of IndiaGovernment of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in 2007. - 'Global Strategist Award' for Mastering many formats of World Chess Championships by NASSCOMNASSCOMThe National Association of Software and Services Companies of IT software and services related activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested companies overseas....
in 2011.
Sample game
On his way to winning the FIDE World Chess ChampionshipWorld Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
in 2000, Anand (White) defeated Grandmaster Viktor Bologan (Black). Here are the moves (analysis by Grandmaster Ľubomír Ftáčnik
Lubomir Ftácnik
Ľubomír Ftáčnik is a Slovak chess player and a former European Junior Champion.He became European Junior Champion in 1976/77 and was awarded the International Master title shortly after...
):
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 c5 15. d5 c4 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Nf5 Kh8 18. g4 Ng8 19. Qd2 Nc5 20. Be3 Bc8 21. Ng3 Rb8 22. Kg2 a5 23. a3 Ne7 24. Rh1 Ng6 25. g5! b4!?
- Anand has an excellent kingside attack, so Bologan seeks counterplay with the sacrifice of a pawn.
26. axb4 axb4 27. cxb4 Na6 28. Ra4 Nf4+ 29. Bxf4 exf4 30. Nh5 Qb6 31. Qxf4 Nxb4 32. Bb1 Rb7 33. Ra3 Rc7 34. Rd1 Na6 35. Nd4 Qxb2 36. Rg3 c3 (see diagram) 37. Nf6!! Re5
- If 37...gxf6, 38. gxf6 h6 39. Rg1! Qd2! 40. Qh4 leaves White with an irresistible initiative.
38. g6! fxg6 39. Nd7 Be7 40. Nxe5 dxe5 41. Qf7 h6 42. Qe8+ 1–0
- White forces mate in 12 moves if the game were to continue, with 42... Bf8 43. Rf3 Qa3 44. Rxf8+ Qxf8 45. Qxf8+ Kh7 46. d6 exd4 47. Ba2 h5 48. dxc7 Nb4 49. Qg8+ Kh6 50. f4 g5 51. f5 g4 52. h4 Bxf5 53. exf5 Nxa2 54. Qh8#
External links
(Chessbase article on Anand's Twitter account)- Anand's passport
- Anand wins World Championship 2010
- 500+ photos from the World Championship 2010
- Viswanathan Anand at CSA Celebrity Speakers
- Latest Videos of Viswanathan Anand
- Viswanathan Anand games at 365Chess.com
- Interview with Viswanathan Anand at LatestChess.com year 2007
- http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1815747_1815707_1815674,00.htmlTIMETime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
: History of Chess, by Viswanathan Anand] - Startup Lessons from Viswanathan Anand
- Interview with CNN IBN, May 2008
- Interview at ChessBase
- Rating data
- Latest news about Anand
- Edward WinterEdward Winter (chess historian)Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.-Chess Notes:...
, List of Books About Anand, Kramnik and Topalov - Vishy Anand on lessons to board room from the board Economic Times
- "India Swoons Over Its Chess Champ, and Even the Game" New York Times August 9, 2010
- The game Anand-Bologan, Dortmund (7) 2003, with annotations by Boris Schipkov
- The game Anand-Topalov, World Chess Championship, Sofia (4) 2010, with annotations by Boris Schipkov
