Vishy Anand...The pride Of India...

Viswanathan Anand - a profile

Viswanathan Anand who turned 35 in December 2004, has throughout his career, for almost 20 years now, been way ahead of his times and peers. One of the best known non-Russian and Asian chess players, Anand has often been given sobriquets like “Lightning Kid” and "Vishy, the Tiger from Madras". Born on December 11, 1969, he picked his early lessons in chess, at the age of six from his mother, Susila Viswanathan.

By 14 he was the “Boy Wonder” in Indian chess and his assets, lightning speed, ability to see and read the game far ahead besides on-board intuition saw him emerge as the Youngest Indian National Champion at age of 16.

In 1987 he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Championship at Baguio City in the Philippines. The same year he became the first Indian to earn the coveted Grandmaster title.

As he grew in strength and reputation, in 1991, he won the strongest tournament at that time, The “Reggio Emilia” in Italy in 1991 ahead of Kasparov & Karpov.

The pinnacle of his career was achieved on December 24, 2000 when Anand became the 15th World Chess Champion in Teheran. Anand won the championship by remaining unbeaten. By winning the title, Anand becomes the First Asian to win the title ending many years of Soviet Domination of the Ancient Indian game.

2004 has been a year of superlatives for Anand. If 2003 made him the “Speed king”. 2004 saw him become the absolute king of Chess. Anand won both rapid and classical chess events. He started his winning spree at the Corus event in Wijk Aan Zee. Anand won the historic Corus Chess Tournament for the fourth time. Anand now joins an exclusive club of players that includes former World Chess Champion Max Euwe, Lajos Portisch, Viktor Kortchnoi. He also won the Dortmund Schachtage by defeating Vladmir Kramnik in the finals. The year also saw Anand make a comeback to the Chess Olympiad after a gap of 12 years. Anand for the first time in Indian chess history captained an all Grandmaster team. Although the team finished sixth, Anand emerged as one of the top scorers on the Olympiad

The year 2003 has again been one where Anand has achieved tremendous success. With six wins in nine starts tournaments, it has been stupendous, for the other three events have also seen him figure in top three. The star performance of the year came from the World Rapid Championships in Capd’Agde where Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik in the finals to clinch the title. That kind of performance won him the exalted chess Oscars for the third time. In a poll conducted over 65 countries, Anand was placed first in 232 lists while Peter Svidler who was placed first got a first place in 35 lists. With this Oscar, Anand joins the chess legend Bobby Fischer in being the only two non-Russians to have won the Oscars after the tradition was reinitiated.

If 2002 was a year of hat-trick, in 2003, Anand went one better. He won the Corsica Masters and the Chess Classic of Mainz for the fourth straight time. In addition, he also won the Melody Amber title for the third time. To these he also added successes in official World Rapid Chess Championships, and SIS-SMH Masters in Denmark with an amazing score of 5.5 out of a maximum six.

Listing all of Anand’s wins is indeed an arduous task, but some of the biggest successes include, the Corus Super GM tournament at Wijk Aan Zee (1988, 1998, 2003 and 2004), Dortmund (1996, 2000 and 2004), Melody Amber tournament (1994 & 1997 and 2003), Reggio Emilia (1991), Groningen (1997), Linares (1998), the Credit Suisse Masters (1997), Dos Hermanas (1997), Torneo de Madrid (1998), Tilburg (1998), Merida (2001), Corsica Masters (2000, 2001, 2002 ,2003 and 2004) and Chess Classic of Mainz (2000, 2001, 2002 , 2003 and 2004), World Cup (2002 and 2000) and Eurotel Trophy (2002),

Anand enjoys playing different varieties of chess. He especially enjoys the advanced chess, wherein computers are at hand for calculations and database searches. Anand has won three editions of the Leon Advanced Chess tournament in Spain (1999,2000 and 2001).

In 2004 Anand took his performance in rapid chess to a new height by winning two of the most prestigious rapid. The Indian Speed Chess king won the Mainz Chess Classic for the fourth consecutive time and the Corsica masters for the fifth time running. He also won the Rapids of the Amber Blind and Rapid Chess event in Monaco. Anand continued his rapid chess exploits by winning the Desafio de Xadrez in Sao Paolo by defeating all his opponents at least once in the event. The Rapid Chess King also created a record of sorts by winning the Paul Keres memorial in Tallinn, Estonia with a perfect 5/5 score. A very tough record to beat. Anand is the winner of the First and Second FIDE World Cup held in Shenyang (2000) and Hyderabad (2002). The World Cups are a series of prestigious knock out tournaments.

Anand has been awarded many prestigious titles in India like the Arjuna Award, the prestigious Padma Shri (the youngest recipient of the title), the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Soviet Land Nehru award, the BPL Achievers of the World, Sportstar, Sportsworld “Sportsman of the year 1995” Award, One of the highest awards, the Padma Bhushan, the Sportstar, “Sportsman of the Millennium” award and the Birla “Living Legends Award”.

Anand received the "Jameo de Oro", One of Spain's highest civilian award given to a foreigner.

Anand, known as the “One man Indian Chess revolution”, keenly promotes the game, through innovative methods in the country, where the game first originated. It is his ambition to be able to take chess to the grass roots level. In conjunction with NIIT, his global sponsor a virtual academy to make chess available to every nook and corner of the country is on the anvil. Anand regularly collaborates with young Indian chess players to help make existing talent reach higher.

His first book “My best games of Chess” has been released in English and German. Anand shares his time between India and Spain. Being Fluent in Spanish, the little town of Collado Mediano near Madrid has adopted him as their “Hijo Predelicto” or famous son.

A keen follower of all events around the world, he is also keen on maintaining fitness with biking, long walks and yoga. He has an interest in a wide variety of topics like astronomy, economics and current affairs. His other hobbies include listening to music and learning languages and he knows more than few European languages Spanish, French and German. A well traveled person , Anand has traveled close to 43 counties adding three new countries , Bulgaria, Brazil and Estnia in 2004

Truly, the NIIT-Brand Ambassador, Anand holds a Bacherlor’s degree in Commerce but a ‘Doctorate’ in Chess!

Career

Leading finishes and other significant achievements of Viswanathan Anand since 1991

2005

Anand second at Corus Super Grandmasters in Holland
Attempting an unprecedented hat-trick of titles at Corus GM tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, Anand finished second in the 13-round tournament.

Anand third at Linares
Anand returning to Linares after a gap finished third in this strong tournament, which was also the last for Garry Kasparov, who after the event announced his retirement, making Anand the highest ranked active player in the world.

Anand awarded 2004 Chess Oscar for second year running and fourth time overall
Anand has become the first non-Russian to win the coveted Chess Oscar for the fourth time. The Indian ace was voted as the winner by a huge margin by the Chess community in the poll conducted by the Russian chess magazine ‘64’. This is the second straight year Anand has been elected winner of the Award and is the fourth time overall after previous wins in 1997, 1998 and 2003.

As many as 445 chess specialists people from 75 countries voted for the winner. Anand figured on each and every list, and in 279 of them he was voted first. The year before Anand had received 232 firsts. His points for 2004 were a whopping 5205, and he towered over the second placed Garry Kasparov, who aggregated 3664 points, which included 60 first places. For the 2003 award, Anand had finished ahead by 1575 points, and for the 2004 award he broke 1541 points clear of Kasparov. Peter Leko (Hungary) was third with 3485 points including 43 first places.

Anand overtook the record of non-Russian Bobby Fischer who won the Oscar three times (1970, 71 and 72). In the Oscar’s modern history the award has changed hands between Kasparov and Anand with Kramnik winning only once in 2000. Between Anand and Kaparov they have won it nine times in 10 years.

Anand makes a clean sweep of three titles at Melody Amber
Playing in Monaco at the famous Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, started with a string of 2-0 victories, which helped him build a huge lead. He won the Rapid, Blindfold and Overall sections, marking only the second time any player has performed a clean sweep. And the first to do so, was none other than Anand himself!

Anand second at M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria
Anand after a modest start with a string of draws in the strongest Grandmasters tournament ever held in Bulgaria came into contention and ended second behind home star, Veselin Topalov in the inagural event, which was also the first GM tournament to be played under the rule of “No agreed draws”. Players were not allowed to agree to draws among themselves, and only the arbiter could decide if the game was a dead draw.

Anand win the Leon Rapid Chess Challenge
Anand playing in Leon after a gap of two years, emerged winner for the fifth time in six years. Anand won the title beating Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the final. Anand’s earlier victories in Leon have included a match against Miguel Illescas in 1997; match against Anatoly Karpov in 1998, Advanced Chess title in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was second in 2002.

Main events Coming Up in 2005

• Chess Classic of Mainz – Anand is the defending champion for the past five years
• World Championships in San Luis, Argentina, where world’s top 8 players will play a double round robin event to decide world’s top player
• Corsica Masters – Anand is the winner of the title for five years now.

2004

Anand retains Corus Super Grandmasters title in Holland
Retained the 2004 Corus Grandmasters Chess tournament title in Wijk Aan Zee, Holland. Anand retained the Corus Grandmasters chess title in Wijk Aan Zee with 8.5 points from 13 rounds with five wins, seven draws and one loss.

Anand wins Blitz Match against Vesselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria
Anand won the Blitz Match for Bulgarian TV beating Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5 in his first appearance in Bulagria.

Anand wins Rapid Title in Melody Amber at Monaco
In Monaco, where he has been a champion many times in the past at the Melody Amber tournament, Anand won the rapid title, once again re-iterating that he was the best player in the world in rapid. He also finished third overall. The joint winners were Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich.

Anand officially takes over No. 2 spot again
In April officially became the World No. 2 once again. Anand returned to the No. 2 spot in world chess according to the latest ratings list in April. He became second to Garry Kasparov, and is now ahead of Vladimir Kramnik.

Anand leads World Squad to Win over All-Star Armenian Team (Team Petrosyan) in Russia
In a unique match in Russia captained a Rest of the World team, which beat an all-star Armenian team that also had Garry Kasparov in it. This was the second time he has led a world team to such a win. In the past, he led a Rest of the World team to a win over a Russian team.

Anand awarded 2003 Chess Oscar
In May 2003, Anand, the World No. in 2002, won the 2003 Chess Oscar, the game's most prestigious annual award for the third time in his career. In a worldwide poll, involving the leading chess writers, critics and journalists from over 50 countries, Anand totaled 4150 points and won by one of the biggest margins in recent times as he finished 1575 points ahead of his nearest rival, Peter Svidler (2575). Anand, who has twice earlier won the Chess Oscar in 1997 and 1998, is only the second non-Russian after Bobby Fischer (1970, 71, and 72) to win the award and both now share the record of three Oscars each.

Anand wins the Dortmund Super Grandmasters Chess Title
In a masterly display at Dortmund Super GM tournament, Anand won the title in a convincing manner making it two out of two in Super GM classical events for 2004. Winning two major classical events like Corus and Dortmund is indeed a matter of great prestige.

Anand Wins the Chess Classic of Mainz for Fourth Time in a Row
Anand outplayed Alexey Shirov in his favourite international venue, Mainz, as he won the Chess Classic of Mainz, an annual event, where he has been winning for last four years. In he past he has beaten Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov and Judit Polgar in the one-on-one battles on the banks of River Rhine.

Anand leads Indian team to best finish in Chess Olympiad at Calvia, Spain
Anand returning to the Indian team after 12 years took them to their best-ever sixth place finish in Calvia, Spain. Anand scored eight points from 11 games.

Anand wins Corsica title for record fifth time
Anand, steamrollered over Russian Sergei Rublevsky for his fifth successive Corsica Masters Chess title in Bastia, France. The Indian ace won 2-0, the third time in this tournament he had achieved this wipeout result.

Anand won the Sao Paolo Rapid Chess Challenge
Anand won the Sao Paolo Rapid Chess Challenge with a three-point margin over the runner-up. He beat each of his other rivals at least once in the round robin event. His victims included Anatoly Karpov.

Anand wins the Paul Keres Challenge in Tallinn, Estonia
Anand demolished the field in a tournament held to mark the memory of Paul Keres in Estonia. Anand outplayed each of his five rivals to win the title by an unprecedented margin.

2003

Anand won six of the nine events he played and is a very strong contender for the Chess Oscar, the biggest chess award for the year. Anand has won the Oscar in the past.

• Wins Corsica Open Rapid Chess for the 4 th year in running
• Wins official World Rapid Chess Championships in Cape d'Agde re-affirming his position as the world's best rapid chess player winning the official World Rapid chess title
• Chess Classic Winner at Mainz, Germany, fourth success in as many years
• Dortmund Super GM Chess finished second
• Highest scorer in the German league
• SIS-MH Masters, Denmark winner with an incredible score of 5.5/6
• Melody Amber Blind and Rapid Chess champion for the third time
• Tied for third place in Linares
• Winner at the 65 th Corus Super GM Chess 2003

2002

• Winner of the The Corsica Masters three times in a row
• Winner of World Cup Chess Championship in Hyderabad.
• Successfully led the ‘Rest of the World' team against Russia in ‘The New Match of the Century' at Moscow.
• Won the Chess Classic Championship at Mainz, Germany

2001

• Wins the Corsica Masters title in Bastia, in November
• Won the Rapidplay event in Villarrobledo in Spain
• Drew the WDR TV Match with Peter Leko in Cologne in August. But as per rules, having played black and drawn, Anand will qualify to play the match next year.
• Won the Duel of World Champions in a 10-game rapid clash with Vladimir Kramnik in Mainz, Germany in June
• Won the Merida International tournament in Mexico
• Won "Torneo Magistral” an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon
• Second in Corus International in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands

2000

• Won FIDE World Championships final in Teheran beating Shirov 3.5-0.5
• Won FIDE World Qualifier in New Delhi, won five rounds without losing a game
• Won the FIDE World Cup in Shenyang, China beating Bareev 1.5 - 0.5 in final
• Joint first with Kramnik in Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund
• Won the Fujitsu Siemens Giants Rapid in Frankfurt
• Won "Torneo Magistral" an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon beat Shirov in final
• Won the Wydra Int'l Rapid in Haifa
• Runner-up in Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee to Kasparov
• Won the Plus GSM World Blitz Cup in Warsaw

1999

• Won the Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez in Leon by defeating Anatoly Karpov 5-1
• Won the Chess Oscar for the second straight year!
• Runner-up in Toreno Int'l De Ajedrez Ciudad in Linares
• Runner Up in the Hoogoven's Schaak Tornoi in Wijk Aan Zee with a record plus 6 score
• Won the 1999 Wydra Memorial Rapid Chess in Haifa

1998

• Won the Fontys-Tilburg International in Tilburg
• Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell which had Computers in the field in Frankfurt
• Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell Rapid event in Frankfurt
• Won the strong "Torneo Magistral Communidad de Madrid
• Won the Category 21 Linares Super torneo
• Tied for first place at the Hoogoven's Schaak Tornoi in Wijk Aan Zee
• Won the Chess Oscar for the first time

1997

• Won the Knock-Out Championships in Groningen which was the qualifier for the world championship finals. He beat 3 out of the top 10 in the world, Shirov, Gelfand & Adams in the final tiebreak.
• Won the Invesbanka Chess tournament", Belgrade
• Won the Credit Suisse Classic Tournament in Biel (also won prize for most beautiful game)
• Runner-up in Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund
• Won the Chess Classic Rapid Tournament, Frankfurt beating Karpov in the Final.
• Won 4-2 in an Exhibition against 6 computers at the Aegon Man Vs Computers chess event. One of the few players to play 6 computers simultaneously and win.
• Won the 6th Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco. Finished overall first and individually first in blindfold and rapid to become the first player in the history of the tournament to do so.
• Won the Torneo de Ajedrez, Dos Hermanes. This was a Category 19 Tournament.

1996

• Second in Las Palmas"Super Torneo De Ajedrez". The six-player event was the strongest tournament of all time till then.
• Won the Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva beating Kasparov in the final.
• Joint winner at Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund with Kramnik.

1995

• Lost the final of the PCA World Championship, New York to Kasparov
• Attained the World No. 2 position in the PCA Ranking list
• Beat Gata Kamsky in PCA World Candidates Final in Las Palmas and qualified for final against Kasparov

1994

• Qualified for PCA World Championship Candidates Final, after beating Michael Adams
• 1994 World Championship Candidates Cycle, New York Champion Beat Romanishin
• 1994 PCA Grand Prix, Moscow Champion Won ahead of Kasparov
• 1994 Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco Champion Won ahead of stalwarts like Karpov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk

1993

• Won the PCA Interzonal, Groningen Champion. The strongest Swiss tournament ever
• Qualified for the FIDE Candidates Cycle Interzonal, Biel
• 1992
• Won the Alekhine Memorial (Category 18) in Moscow. Won the tournament ahead of Karpov. Attained a 2700 rating, only the 8th person ever to do so in the World
• Second in Immopar Trophy, Paris -- Lost final to Kasparov
• Beat Vassily Ivanchuk (then World No. 3) 5-2 in a match in Linares
• Captained the Indian team in Olympiad in Manila, remained unbeaten
• Joint champion in Goodricke Open International Tournament

1991-1992

• Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament (Category 18) Champion ahead of Kasparov and Karpov in the strongest tournament ever held until this time.

1991

• World Championship, Brussels Quarter Finalist Lost to Anatoly Karpov
• First World Candidates Cycle Match, beat Alexey Dreev in Madras