In this Indian name, the name "Viswanathan" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Anand". Indian family names are based on a variety of systems and Naming conventions, which vary from region to region A patronym, is a component of a Personal name based on the name of one's father A family name or last name is a type of Surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs The abbreviations "s/o" or "d/o", if used, mean "son of" or "daughter of" respectively.

Viswanathan Anand
Full name	Viswanathan Anand
Country	India
Born	December 11, 1969 (1969-12-11) (age 38) Madras, India
Title	Grandmaster (1988)
World Champion	2000-2002 (FIDE), 2007-present (undisputed)
FIDE rating	2803 (No. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The title Grandmaster is awarded to extremely strong Chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. 1 on the April 2008 FIDE ratings list)
Peak rating	2803 (April 2006, April 2008)

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. Algebraic chess notation is used to record and describe the moves in a game of Chess.

Viswanathan Anand (pronounced [ʋiɕˈʋəˌnɑˌt̪ʰən ɑnˌənd̪], Tamil: விசுவநாதன் ஆனந்த்) (born December 11, 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. The title Grandmaster is awarded to extremely strong Chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Anand is one of four players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list and he has been among the top three ranked players in the world continuously since 1997. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the ^[1]

Recently he was awarded the second highest civilian award of India- "Padma Vibhushan". The Padma Vibhushan is India 's second highest civilian honour In the April 2007 FIDE Elo rating list, Anand was ranked first in the world for the first time,^[2] and he retained the number one spot in the July 2007 list with a rating of 2792, a lead of 23 points. The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. On the current April 2008 list he has an Elo rating of 2803, which makes him number one in the world [1]. The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. He is the sixth person to head the rating list since its inception in 1970; the other five being Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer ( March 9 1943 – January 17 2008) was an American -born Chess Grandmaster Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анатолий Евгеньевич Карпов born May 23, 1951) is a Russian Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian Chess grandmaster Veselin Topalov (vɛsɛ'lin to'pɑlof Веселин Топалов (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Chess grandmaster Anand became the undisputed World Chess Champion on September 29, 2007, after winning the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament held in Mexico City. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12 2007 to September Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico ^[3] Anand finished the tournament with a score of 9/14 (+4=10-0).

Chess 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 International Master Title at the age of fifteen, in 1984. The title International Master is awarded to outstanding Chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. At the age of sixteen he became the national chess champion and won that title two more times. The Indian Chess Championship is a yearly national Chess championship of India. He played games at blitz speed. Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of Chess game in which each side is In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 Chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition organized In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster. He was awarded Padhma 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). The Reggio Emilia chess tournament is a Chess tournament played in Reggio Emilia, Italy Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анатолий Евгеньевич Карпов born May 23, 1951) is a Russian Chess grandmaster Playing at such a high level did not slow him down either, and he continued to play games at blitz speed. In 1991, he made the quarter finals of the FIDE Candidates Tournament, before losing narrowly to Anatoly Karpov. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the The Candidates Tournament was a triennial Chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE as the final contest to determine the challenger for the ^[4]

Anand qualified for the Professional Chess Association World Chess Championship final by winning the candidates matches against Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky. The Professional Chess Association (PCA which existed between 1993 and 1996 was a rival organisation to FIDE, the international Chess organization See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Michael Adams (born November 17, 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, England, UK) is a British Grandmaster of Gata Kamsky real name Gataulla Rustemovich Sabirov ( Tatar: Ğata Kamskiy Ğataulla Rөstəm uğlı Sabirov Гата Камский Гатаулла Рөстәм улы Сабиров ^[5] In 1995, he played a title match against Kasparov in New York City's World Trade Center. The City of New York The World Trade Center in New York City, United States (sometimes informally the WTC or Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan 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. The exchange in Chess refers to a situation in which one player loses a minor piece (i He lost the match 10. 5 - 7. 5.

Anand won three consecutive Advanced Chess 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. Advanced Chess (sometimes called cyborg chess or centaur chess) is a relatively new form of Chess, first introduced by grandmaster Garry History León was founded in the 1st century BC by the Roman legion Legio VI ''Victrix''. Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet

Anand has won the Chess Oscar in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, and 2007 becoming the third non-Russian player, after Bent Larsen of Denmark and Bobby Fischer of USA, to win the Oscar. Chess Oscar is an international award given to the best Chess player every year Jørgen Bent Larsen (born March 4 1935, Thisted) is a Danish Chess Grandmaster. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer ( March 9 1943 – January 17 2008) was an American -born Chess Grandmaster The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a world-wide 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. 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 The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite Chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. The annual Linares chess tournament, usually played around the end of February takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia He has won the annually held Monaco Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. For other uses see Monaco (disambiguation Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco ( French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque Blindfold chess is a way to play Chess, whereby play is conducted without the players having sight of the positions of the pieces or any physical contact with them 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 (and he did this twice – in 1997 and 2005). He is the first player to have achieved victories in each of the three big chess supertournaments: Corus (1998, 2003, 2004, 2006), Linares (1998, 2007, 2008), Dortmund (1996, 2000, 2004). 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 The annual Linares chess tournament, usually played around the end of February takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite Chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany.

In 2007 he won the Grenkeleasing Rapid championship, which he won for the tenth time defeating Armenian GM Levon Aronian. Levon Aronian (Լևոն Արոնյան born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian Chess player Incidentally, just a few days before Aronian had defeated Anand in the Chess960 final. Chess960, or Fischer Random Chess (also written Fischerrandom and Fischerandom) is a Chess variant produced by the late former In March 2007, Anand won the Linares chess tournament and it was widely believed that he would be ranked world No. The annual Linares chess tournament, usually played around the end of February takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia 1 in the FIDE Elo rating list for April 2007. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. 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,^[6] making Anand number one in the April 2007 list. ^[7]

World Chess Champion

After several near misses, Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov 3. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov ( Aleksejs Širovs, Алексей Дмитриевич Широв) (born July 4, 1972 in Riga, 5 - 0. 5 in the final match held at Tehran, thereby becoming the first Indian to win that title. Tehran (or Teheran) ( Persian: تهران Tehrān) is the capital and largest City of Iran, and the administrative center of He lost the title when Ruslan Ponomariov won the FIDE knockout tournament in 2002. Ruslan Ponomariov (Руслан Пономарьов Русла́н Пономарёв (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian Chess player

He tied for second with Peter Svidler in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 with 8. Peter Svidler (Пётр Свидлер Pyotr Svidler born June 17, 1976, in Leningrad) is a Russian Chess grandmaster. The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16 5 points out of 14 games, 1. 5 points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov. Veselin Topalov (vɛsɛ'lin to'pɑlof Веселин Топалов (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Chess grandmaster

In September 2007 Anand became World Champion again by winning that year's FIDE World Championship Tournament held in Mexico City. The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12 2007 to September Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico 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. Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian Chess grandmaster Boris Abramovich Gelfand (born 24 June 1968) is a Chess grandmaster.

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. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May

Anand is scheduled to defend the title against Kramnik in a match in 2008. Background The previous world championship the World Chess Championship 2007, was decided in a tournament rather than a match In October 2007, Anand said he liked the double round robin championship format, and that the right of Kramnik to automatically challenge for the title was "ridiculous". ^[8]

World Rapid Chess Champion

In October 2003, the governing body of chess, FIDE, organized a rapid time control tournament in Cap d'Agde and billed it as the World Rapid Chess Championship. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the Cap d'Agde (kap dagd is the Seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean sea in the département of Hérault, Each player had 25 minutes at the start of the game, with an additional 10 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), Mainz (seven years in a row from 2000 through 2006), Leon 2005, Eurotel 2002, Fujitsu Giants 2002 and the Melody Amber (five times – and he won the rapid portion of Melody Amber seven times). The Melody Amber chess tournament (officially the Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament) is an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players from In the Melody Amber 2007, Anand did not lose a single game in the rapid section, and scored 8. The Melody Amber chess tournament (officially the Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament) is an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players from 5/11, two more than the runners-up. His performance in the rapid section was 2939. ^[9] 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 real name Gataulla Rustemovich Sabirov ( Tatar: Ğata Kamskiy Ğataulla Rөstəm uğlı Sabirov Гата Камский Гатаулла Рөстәм улы Сабиров 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 - Svidler at the MTel Masters 2006. ^[10]

Chess titles

• 1983 National Sub-Junior Chess Champion - age 14
• 1984 International Master - age 15
• 1985 Indian National Champion - age 16
• 1987 World Junior Chess Champion,
• 1988 Grandmaster
• 2000 FIDE World Chess Champion
• 2003 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion
• 2007 FIDE World Chess Champion (Undisputed)

Awards

Anand has received many awards.

• Arjuna award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess in 1985
• Padma Shri, National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1987
• The inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour in the year 1991-1992. The Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports Padma Shri (also spelt Padma Shree, Padmashree, Padma Sree and Padma Sri) is an award given by the Government of India generally The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna ( RGKR) is India ’s highest honour given for achievement in sports
• British Chess Federation 'Book of the Year' Award in 1998 for his book My Best Games of Chess
• Padma Bhushan in 2000
• Jameo de Oro the highest honour given by the Government of Lanzarote in Spain on 25th April 2001. The English Chess Federation (ECF is the governing Chess organisation in England and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The Padma Bhushan award is an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. The award is given to illustrious personalities with extraordinary achievements.
• Chess Oscar (1997, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2007)
• Sportstar Millennium Award in 1998, from India's premier Sports magazine for being the sportperson of the millennium
• Padma Vibhushan in 2008

Sample game

In this position after move 36 in the 2000 FIDE World Championship game between Viswanathan Anand and Viktor Bologan, Anand (White), in an apparently worse position, finds an intuitive sacrifice that leads to a winning attack. Chess Oscar is an international award given to the best Chess player every year The Padma Vibhushan is India 's second highest civilian honour Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Victor Viorel Bologan (born December 14, 1971) is a Moldovan Chess grandmaster.

On his way to winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, Anand (White) defeated Grandmaster Viktor Bologan (Black). Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Victor Viorel Bologan (born December 14, 1971) is a Moldovan Chess grandmaster. Here are the moves (analysis by Grandmaster Ľubomír Ftáčnik):

1. Ľubomír Ftáčnik (born Bratislava October 30, 1957) is a Slovak Chess player and a former European Junior Champion e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 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 ^[11]

Further reading

• Viswanathan Anand, My Best Games of Chess (Gambit, 2001 (new edition))

References

External links

• FIDE rating card for Viswanathan Anand
• Viswanathan Anand games at 365Chess.com
• Viswanathan Anand at ChessGames.com
• Interview with Viswanathan Anand year 2007
• Startup Lessons from Viswanathan Anand