Viswanathan Anand - The 15th World Chess Champion

Viswanathan Anand is the 15th official world chess champion, Deputy President of FIDE and 1st Indian Grandmaster and writer. He wrote “My best games of chess” etc.

He was born on December 11, 1969, at Tamil Nadu, India. His mother taught him about chess at the age of 6. 

In 1978, they moved to Manila because of his father work as consultant in PNR. He started to become passionate in chess there at age of 9. 

 In 1984, he was the Asian Junior Champion for 2 consecutive years, gaining the IM title.

In 1986, he was the youngest national chess champion (16 y/o) for 3 consecutive years. The next year, he was the first Indian who won the World Junior Championship.

In 1988, he won the Shakti Finance International, gaining and making the 1st Indian Grandmaster.

In 1991-1992, he was the first recipient of the Khel Ratna Award (sports).

In 1995, he won the Candidates and qualified for title match with Garry Kasparov where he lost with 1 win 4 losses and 13 draws.

In 1998, he lost the FIDE world title match with Anatoly Karpov with 2 wins 4 losses and 2 draws. This is due to his physical and mental condition after playing 7 knock-out matches with his freshed and prepared opponent in the final match. After the match, Anand reiterated his concerns with the unfairness of the tournament format. He also received the “Book of the Year" Award in 1998 for his book My Best Games of Chess from British Chess Federation.

In 2000, he was awarded as 3rd FIDE World Champion by winning the final match against Alexei Shirov in 2000 with 3.5/4 points and received $528,000 cash prize. He was also the 1st World Cup champion by beating Evgeny Bareev in the finals with 1.5/2. He also rejected the offer for championship match with Kasparov as 2nd in FIDE rating, due to budget and in respect for unsettled agreement with Alexei Shirov, who was the best player to qualify.

In 2003, he won the world rapid by winning the final match from Vladimir Kramnik with 1.5/2 (also in 2017 after defeating Vladimir Fedoseev with 2-0 at tiebreak).

In 2006, he was the 4th to surpass 2800 rating, and became no 1 in rating for 21 months. 

Before he become a world champion, he won a lot of top tournaments like, 5-times winner of Corus (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006), Linares 1998, 2007-08, Dortmund 1996, 2000, 2004 etc.

In 2007, the 1948 World Championship format implemented but this time double round robin with 8 players, Anand got the title with 9/14 ahead of kramnik and received $390,000 as cash prize. Some top players and chess leaders incensed that there will be a world rematch incase Kramnik will not win the championship. The following year, a rematch happened between Kramnik and Anand. He won the title with 3 win 1 loss and 7 draws due to his superior opening preparation. After 2 years, Anand auctioned off his gold medal and the proceeds went to “The Foundation”-a charitable institution for benefits of underprivileged children. He was rank 1st for the first time in the April 2007 rating.

Anand won the world championship title in 3 different formats (Knock-out, tournament and match. His playing style is known for its versatility and ability to excel in both strategic and tactical positions. His ability to adapt to different formats and time controls made him a feared opponent in all variations of the game.

In 2010, He retained the title by winning the match from Veselin Topalov with 3 wins 2 losses and 7 draws. Anand was one of the directors in Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting and supporting India's elite athletes with potential talent. He was also the guest of honour in conducting a new world record of simultaneous chess in Gujarat University, where 20,486 players play. 

In 2012, He retained again the title from Boris Gelfand with 2 wins 1 loss and 13 draws. They reached the shortest decisive championship game that lasted in 17 moves. He also received the "Indian player of the year" and "Indian of the year" awards.

In 2013, he lost the title to Magnus Carlsen with no wins 3 losses and 7 draws. Again, Anand won the Candidates and qualify for rematch the following year, but lost the title again with Magnus Carlsen with 1 win 3 lost and 7 draws.

After he lost the title in 2013, still he is a top contender by winning a lot of tournaments like; Bilbao 2014, London 2014, Zuerich 2015, St Loius 2016, Paris 2019, Levitov 2019, Superbet 2022, etc.

In 2022, he was elected as Deputy President of FIDE.

Anand's influence also extends to the realm of chess education and outreach. He has been involved in promoting chess as an educational tool, advocating for the benefits of chess in cognitive development and problem-solving skills. In addition to his achievements on the chessboard, Anand is known for his humility and sportsmanship. He is widely respected by his peers and fans for his gracious demeanor and positive attitude, win or lose. His passion and love for chess, never hindered his education. He completed his bachelor degree in commerce from Loyola College, Chennai.

There are 4158 games listed in the chessbase 2021.

Let’s look of his best games which feature in our GMG page.