Legend - Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand

“For me, chess is not a profession. It is a way of life, a passion.”

   WHO

Viswanathan Anand is an Indian Chess Grandmaster and former World Chess Champion. Described by many as one of the most versatile world champions ever, he has won the World Chess Championship five times, and was the undisputed World Champion from 2007 to 2013. He is widely considered the strongest rapid player of his generation. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92, and in 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history.

HOW

Anand started playing chess at the age of six and it was his mother who taught him how to play the game. He plays chess at a lightning speed and this style won him the first national title in the sub-junior tournament with a record cent percent score of 9/9 points in 1983-84. Since then, there was no looking back. He is the only World Champion who won the World Championship playing in all different formats (match, tournament, and knockout).

FACTS

Born: December 11, 1969 in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu

Nicknames: Vish, Vishy, The Tiger from Madras, One-man Indian Chess Revolution

Ranking: #7 (as of May 2017)

Titles & Major Victories:

• Chess Championship (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012)

• FIDE [Federation Internationale des Echecs: The World Chess Federation] World Rapid Chess Champion (2003)

• FIDE World Chess Champion (2000)

• Chess Grandmaster (1988)

• First Asian to win World Junior Chess Championship (1987)

• Indian National Champion (1985)

• International Master (1984)

• National Sub-junior Chess Champion (1983)

Awards:

• Padma Vibhushan (2008)

• Padma Bhushan (2000)

• British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award for his book - “Vishy Anand - My Best Games of Chess” (1998)

• Chess Oscar (6 times)

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, first-ever recipient (1991-92)

• Padma Shri, youngest-ever recipient (1987)

• Soviet Land Nehru Award (1987)

• Arjuna Award (1985)