Ten moves- Know vishy better
This is an article that I read in a local newspaper here.Found it interesting,so thought of sharing it with everyone else. Here's some trivia about VishyAnand-The world chess champion. Vishwanathan Anand was born on 11 December 1969 in Chennai,Tamil Nadu to Mr. Vishwanathan, who retired as General Manager, Southern Railways, and Mrs. Susheela, housewife and chess aficionado.
- Anand has been given sobriquets like "Lighting Kid" and "Vishy,the Tiger from Madras". He was taught to play by his mother. He described his start in chess in a conversation with Susan Polgar:
"I started when I was six. My mother taught me how to play. In fact, my mother used to do a lot for my chess. We moved to the Philippines shortly afterward. I joined the club in India and we moved to the Philippines for a year. And there they had a TV program that was on in the afternoon, one to two or something like that, when I was in school. So she would write down all the games that they showed and the puzzles, and in the evening we solved them together. Of course my mother and her family used to play some chess, and she used to play her younger brother, so she had some background in chess, but she never went to a club or anything like that. So we solved all these puzzles and sent in our answers together. And they gave the prize of a book to the winner. And over the course of many months, I won so many prizes. At one point they just said take all the books you want, but don't send in anymore entries."
2.Vishy's sister first took him to a chess club.He once said: "We had these boards and the winner stayed and the loser had to go back in line.I hated to wait so I kept thinking of how to win.My incentive was sometimes an ice cream or a dosa."
3.By 14 he was the "Boy Wonder" in Indian chess.His assets: lightning speed,ability to see and read the game far ahead besides on-board intuition. It helped him emerge as the youngest national champion at 16.
4.Anand studied at Don Bosco High School and Loyola College in Chennai. He would return after playing and then the professors would teach him at home and he would take the exam. By the time he left university he was in the world top ten!
5.A keen follower of all events around the world,he is also keen on maintaining fitness with biking,long walks and yoga.He knows French,German and Spanish. Anand has travelled to more than 45 countries.
6.Vishy enjoys playing different varieties of chess. Anand especially enjoys the advanced form of the game,wherein computers are at hand for players for calcularions and database searches.
7.When, in 1991, Anand played his first Linares event, he met a Spanish couple Maurice and Nieves. They were the reason Anand moved to Collado Mediano. They travelled with Vishy to many events over the years.
8.Anand received the "Jameo de Oro", One of Spain's highest civilian awards given to a foreigner. Being fluent in Spanish, the little town of Mediano near Madrid has adopted him as the "Hijo Predelicto" or famous son.
9.Anand is married to Aruna,who was a complete stranger initially! "When we started travelling I had no clue about chess. But now sometimes when I tell him some position he starts laughing" she says.
10.His first book,"My best games of Chess" has been released in English and German.
Pictures: 1,2,3-Early pictures of Vishy
4-Vishy with his wife Aruna. 5-Vishy and his family 
6-Book cover of "My best games of chess". 7-Vishy after winning the WCC. 
8-Playing against Kramnik in Bonn,Germany. 
Vishy's team-Former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov from Uzbekistan(Extreme left),Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark (in red), Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Anand, wife Aruna and Rodoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland(extreme right)