Viswanathan Anand

He is married to Aruna and has one son. He is a very simple and unassuming person who keeps away from controversies and focuses only on his game. He is well respected and liked even by his former chess rivals.

Anand was born in Tamil Nadu into a Brahmin family. His father, Viswanathan Iyer worked with the Southern Railways while his mother Susheela was a housewife. Anand is the youngest of three siblings.

His mother was a big fan of chess and taught him to play the game when he was just five or six years old. She encouraged and motivated him a lot and this build the foundation for his future career as a chess player.

In 1983 he won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship at the age of 14. By the time he was 16 he had become the national chess champion.

He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1987 and became the first Indian to do so. He became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988 when he was just 18.

He completed his schooling from Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School before enrolling at the Loyola College, Chennai.

He won the Reggio Emilia tournament in 1991. It is Italy’s most renowned tournament, and Anand at just 22 won it ahead of the greats like Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.

He tried to secure a place in the World Chess Championship 1993 where he qualified for his first Candidates Tournament. He, however, lost the quarter final match to Karpov.

In the PCA World Chess Championship 1995 he won the matches against Oleg Romanishin, Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky in the Candidates final. He played the finals against Garry Kasparov which he ultimately lost to the Russian legend.

Again in 1998 Anand cleared the candidates round by defeating Michael Adams in the final and faced the reigning champion Karpov in the World Chess Championship finals. Karpov had a psychological advantage over Anand and easily defended his title.

The year 2000 was a good one for Anand. He played in the World Chess Championship and won his first title after several years of near-hits. He beat Alexei Shirov to clinch the World Chess Championship.

Anand is considered one of the best contemporary chess players in the world, especially renowned for his versatility. He is a five time winner of the World Chess Championship and was the undisputed World No.1 from 2007 to 2013.

He is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards. He won the first ever Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award—India’s highest sporting honour—in 1991-92.

In 2007 he was presented with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award for his achievements in chess. He was the first ever sportsperson in India to receive this award.