Top 10 things to know about Vishwanathan Anand

The tiger of India has dominated the sport like no one else in the nation.

Chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand has been one of the top names in world chess for over two decades. Hailing from the township of Mayiladuthurai in the state of Tamil Nadu, the 53-year-old can be attributed to putting India on the world map of chess. 

Currently ranked ninth in world chess rankings, Anand was reportedly taught how to play chess by his mother when his family lived in Manila. Having said that, here are 10 things to know about the president of the Federation Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE).

First Indian Grandmaster:

Anand, the 'tiger of India', has been a prodigy since his early days. At the age of just 14, he became the youngest National Sub-Junior Chess Champion in 1983. He followed it up by being the youngest International Master championship winner from India. 

Three years later, in 1987, Anand became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. Already touted for greatness, it didn't take long for Anand to claim grandmaster status. In 1988, he won the Shakti Finance International Chess tournament and became the first grandmaster from India. He paved the way for India's massive rise in the sport as India has produced 75 GMs since then. 

First Indian Grand Champion:

In keeping with the theme of his career, Vishwanathan Anand also became the first Grand Champion in 2000. Held in Tehran and New Delhi, the championship saw the co-hosts sending four players namely, Vishy Anand, Krishnan Sasikiran, Abhijit Kunte, and Dibyendu Barua.

Anand stood out in the 100-man tournament and reached the final where he faced world no. 1, Alexei Shirov. Game 1 ended in a 34-move draw but in Game 2 Anand pounced on a Shirov mistake and won the set. Game 3 and four saw Shirov on the offence and Anand's incredible ability to defend and hit where it hurts. He was the undisputed champion, the first from India. Anand won the tournament again in 2007 and retained it till 2012, winning it five times. 

Chess Oscars winner:

Anand also became the first Chess Oscars winner from India and has remained the only one to date. He won the title for the first time in 1997. 

He retained the honours in the next iteration of the championship as well. After a small break, Anand went on to dominate the first decade of the 2000s with four more titles in 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008. He is third in the all-time winners list trailing behind only Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.

Elo 2800 player:

 Anand became a member of the prestigious Elo 2800 in April 2006. At that time, he was only the fourth player to do so and as a norm, the first and only Indian on the list. He held onto the top position for 21 months, the sixth longest in the history of the game. 

Currently, Vishwanathan Anand is eighth on the list with 2817 points. The list is unsurprisingly led by Magnus Carlsen with 2882 points. 

All formats World Championship winner

The Tiger has shown utter dominance in the game in all formats. He has won the championship in a tournament format, Rapid Control format, Knockout format, and Match format. 

Shortest world championship match

In the 2012 FIDE World Championship, defending champion Anand faced Boris Gelfand in Game 8. The defending champion gave Gefland no chance, finishing the game in just 17 moves.

Playing with the Black, Gefland soon saw his Queen trapped in a King's Indian attack. The game ended soon after this. 

Game by numbers

Anand has played a total of 4179 games till today. He has won 36% of the games and drawn 50%, losing only 14%. 

Playing with blacks, he has won 27% of the 2037 games in his career. But his dominant game comes out when he plays with white. In opening games, Anand has won 44% and drawn 44% of 2142 games. 

Awards and accolades

Anand has won all the prestigious awards available in chess and he also holds all the individual awards offered by the Indian government. He has won the Padma Vibhushan (2008), Padmashree (1988), Padma Bhushan (2001), Arjun Awards for Chess (1985), CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Sports(2007 and 2012) and CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (2012). 

Currently, he is 2754 in FIDE rating, as of February 2023. He peaked at the rating in 2011 with 2897 points. 

The only sportsperson to be invited to have dinner with the US President

Vishwanathan Anand was invited to dine with the US President. On November 7, 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Anand to have dinner with Barack Obama, the US President.

A gym fanatic of sorts:

It has been reported on various occasions that Anand hits the gym right after he loses a game. A fierce competitor at heart, Vishy finds it hard to sleep after losing a game of chess. So, he hits the gym for a session of heavy exercise as this is the only thing that helps him sleep after a defeat.