Viswanathan Anand

Biography (1969)

The first Grandmaster from India (born in 1969), one of the most talented players of his generation, Viswanathan Anand, started his quest for the chess crown in the championship cycle 1990-1993 but lost the semifinal against Karpov. Ten years later, he entered FIDE World Championship 2000 as the main favourite. He delivered on his promise by winning seven straight matches, including the final with Alexei Shirov (3½-½) and taking the title. The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in a double round-robin format with the undisputed World Champion Vladimir Kramnik participating. Viswanathan Anand won the event, becoming the only undefeated player in the competition. In the following years, he successfully defended his title by defeating Kramnik 6½-4½ (Bonn, 2008), Topalov 6½-5½ (Sofia, 2010), and prevailing over Gelfand in a tiebreaker (Moscow, 2012).In November 2013, Vishy Anand lost the match for the crown to Magnus Carlsen, but risked storming the chess Olympus again. He brilliantly held the Candidates Tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk and secured first place one round before the finish. In September 2014. The second world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand (2014) was a bitter struggle, but Carlsen won again.A minor planet (4538) 1988 TP has been named after Vishyanand Anand.

Want chess advice?

# 1 / 5

You need to motivate yourself, no matter what-definitely when things are bad, but also when things are good. Or else, you risk becoming complacent

Confidence is very important - even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake

Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina, and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport

Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes

Chess teaches you to work with data and a lot of information because of the nature of the way you learn in the game. It teaches you to avoid making hasty decisions when you’re tense and also things to do with self-control and being objective

On Anand

Since you have to lose your championship title one day, Viswanathan Anand was the best player to pass my championship title to. Anand is absolutely great....may be also a little bit underestimated. In terms of pure talent, I consider him the most talented player in last, may be, 50 years. I mean, I am not trying to be polite here, but I don't consider myself on the same level