'Excellence is the gradual result of always wanting to do
something better.'
- Pat RileyBorn on december 11, 1969, Vishy as he
is popularly known, Viswanathan Anand is currently rated World number Two. Anand learnt
the game at the age of 6 and within a few years found himself playing Speed games daily at
the 'Tal chess club '. And it all started there. Nick named 'Lightning Kid' for his
uncanny quickness of play and remarkable intuition, 13 year old Anand playing for the
'Madras Colts' in the National Team Chess Championships, qualified for his maiden National
B Championship . After that there was no looking back |
| By winning the World Juniors
Anand obtained his first Grand Master norm and the title itself wasn't far off. In the
very next year he won the Sakthi Grandmasters tournament at Coimbatore ahead of a strong
Soviet grandmasters to obtain the 'Grand Master' title becoming the first Indian to
achieve this feat. In the words of Bernard Shaw 'It wasn't the end, nor the beginning of
an end, but was just the beginning of a beginning'. In
July 1990, he stepped into the top echelons of Chess, finishing third in the
Inter-zonal championship, qualifying as a candidate for the World championship cycle, a feat achieved
by only one other Asian . In
the pre-Quarter Finals held at Chennai, he convincingly demolished his Russian opponent
Alexi Dreev 4.5 - 1.5. Though he narrowly lost to Anatoly Karpov in the quarterfinals,
Anand stunned the Chess World by winning the 'Strongest tournament of that time', the Reggio
Emila in Italy in 1991. The next few years saw Anand moving up the World Championship
ladder notching tournament and match victories at ease. In 1994 Anand swept past Russia's
Arthur Yusupov 4.5 - 2.5 in the FIDE cycle, Oleg Romanishnin 5 - 2 and England's Michael
Adams 5.5 - 1.5 in the PCA cycle. However it was 1995 that he cherishes most, because in
that year he crushed American Grandmaster Gata Kamsky 6.5 - 4.5 to challenge Garry
Kasparov for the PCA world Championship title. He also challenged Anatoly Karpov in the
FIDE world Championship at Lausanne in 1997.
Anand added another feather to his cap winning the
strongest knock out tournament in Chess history in Groningen in December, 1997. In 1998 he
won the toughest of Chess tournaments in these years and the dream of every world class
player, the Linares Super Tourney, popularly known as the 'Wimbledon of Chess '.
For his extraordinary performances in 1997 (Winner: Dos
Hermanas , Melody Amber Rapid & Blind fold tournament, Monte Carlo, Frankfurt Chess
Classic, CreditSuisse Masters, Biel and the World Championship knockout , Groningen )
Anand was awarded the 'Chess Oscar'.
Three hundred journalists from fifty five countries
decided the award based on the creative as well as spectator value of the games produced
by each player. Anand scored 3407 points ahead of Kasparov (3244) and Kramnik (2765), his
nearest rivals. Anand is the sixth player and only the second non-russian after Fischer
who won it in 1972, to receive this honour.
Anand receiving the Chess Oscar from
former World Champion Boris Spassky, the first recipient of the award >
A look at Anand's first victory over Kasparov
Anand,V (2752) - Kasparov,G (2770)
Tilburg , 1991
Sicilian Defence
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6
7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Qb6 9.Be3 Qxb2 10.Ndb5 10.axb5 11.Nxb5
Ra5 12.Rb1 Rxb5 13.Rxb2 Rxb2 14.Qa1 Rb6 15.Bxb6 Nxb6
16.Qc3 Be7 17.Rb1 Nfd7 18.Qxg7 Bf6 19.Qh6 Ke7 20.Bb5 Rg8 21.Rd1 e5 22.f5 Nc5
23.Rxd6 Bg5 24.Qxh7 Nxe4 25.Rxb6 Rd8 26.Bd3 Be3+ 27.Kf1
Bxb6 28.Bxe4 Rd4 29.c3 1-0 |
