Viswanathan Anand

Soon afterward, he participated in the 26th Chess Olympiad, in Thessaloniki, where he made his debut on the Indian national team.

Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion.

Viswanathan Anand was born on 11 December 1969 in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India, into a Tamil Brahmin family.

He later moved to Chennai, where he grew up.

His father, Krishnamurthy Viswanathan, was a general manager in the Southern Railways who had studied in Jamalpur, Bihar; and his mother, Sushila, was a housewife, chess aficionado, and an influential socialite.

Anand is the youngest of three children.

He is 11 years younger than his sister, and 13 years younger than his brother.

His brother, Shivakumar, is a manager at Crompton Greaves in India.

His sister, Anuradha, is a professor at the University of Michigan.

Anand started learning chess from age six from his mother, but he learned the intricacies of the game in Manila, where he lived with his parents from 1978 through the 1980s while his father was contracted as a consultant by the Philippine National Railways.

Anand was educated at Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai, and has a Bachelor of Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai.

Known for his rapid playing speed as a child, Anand earned the sobriquet "Lightning Kid" during his early career in the 1980s.

He has since developed into a universal player, and many consider him the greatest rapid chess player of his generation.

National success came early for him when he won the sub-junior championship with a score of 9/9 points in 1983, at age 14.

In 1984 Anand won the Asian Junior Championship in Coimbatore, earning an International Master (IM) norm in the process.

He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time.

In 2022, he was elected the deputy president of FIDE.

Anand was the first recipient of the Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honour.

Anand defeated Alexei Shirov in a six-game match to win the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship, a title he held until 2002.

He won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, the World Blitz Cup in 2000, and numerous other top-level rapid and blitz events.

In April 2006, Anand became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list, after Kramnik, Topalov, and Garry Kasparov.

He occupied the number one position for 21 months, the sixth-longest period on record.

He became the undisputed world champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010, and Boris Gelfand in 2012.

In 2007, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award.

In August 2010, Anand joined the board of directors of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting and supporting India's elite sportspersons and potential young talent.

On 24 December 2010, he was the guest of honour on the grounds of Gujarat University, where 20,486 players created a new world record of simultaneous chess play at a single venue.

His hobbies are reading, swimming, and listening to music.

Anand has been regarded as an unassuming person with a reputation for refraining from political and psychological ploys and instead focusing on his game.

This has made him a well-liked figure throughout the chess world for two decades, evidenced by the fact that Kasparov, Kramnik, and Carlsen, all of whom were rivals for the world championship during Anand's career, each aided him in his preparations for the 2010 World Chess Championship.

Anand is sometimes known as the "Tiger of Madras".

Anand was the only sportsperson invited to the dinner Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hosted for US President Barack Obama on 7 November 2010.

Anand was denied an honorary doctorate from University of Hyderabad because of confusion over his citizenship status; India's Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal later apologised and said, "There is no issue on the matter as Anand has agreed to accept the degree at a convenient time depending on his availability".

According to The Hindu, Anand finally declined to accept the doctorate.

Anand married Aruna in 1996 and has a son, born on 9 April 2011, named in the traditional patronymic way Anand Akhil.

Anand is Hindu and stated that he visits temples to enjoy the tranquility and joy they symbolize.

He has credited his daily prayers with helping him achieve a "heightened state of mind" that helps him focus better when playing chess.

In 2013, he lost the title to challenger Magnus Carlsen, and he lost a rematch to Carlsen in 2014 after winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament.

On 26 May 2015, Anand's mother died at age 79.

On 15 April 2021, Anand's father died at age 92.

Anand's rise in the Indian chess world was meteoric.