World Champion Viswanathan Anand, 40
Today the reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand turns forty. He was born
on 11 December 1969 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to Vishwanathan, General Manager,
Southern Railways, and Susheela, housewife, chess/film/club aficionado and an
influential socialite, who taught him to play chess.
Anand held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when
the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and
defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became
the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three
different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match. Anand is one of five players
in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list.
In 2007 Anand was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma
Vibhushan. He is also the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in
1991–92, India's highest sporting honour.
Click on our feedback button on the left to send Anand greetings
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We will pass all greetings on to the champ.
Vishy Anand turns 40. Wish him!
Viswanathan Anand turns 40 today. On the occasion, the chess ace has just one
wish -- that the sport be included in the Olympics. "It would be nice to
have chess in the Olympics," says the first player to become World champion
in all three formats of the game.
After all, having won World titles in the Knock-out, Tournament and Match formats,
a medal from the Olympics is the only accolade missing from his showcase.
The World Championship match against Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov that comes
up in April-May is Anand's big event for 2010, and he has already started preparing
for it in earnest. As he puts it, the Bulgarian is a "very versatile and
dangerous player". Sure, he'll need all the luck and backing from his legion
of fans to come out tops.
Join us in wishing the king of the 64 squares board a very happy birthday and
all the best for the coming year.
Post
your wishes (do it!)
Other press reports
விசுவநாதன் ஆனந்த்
– what's in a name?
He was named "Anand" at birth, and as a good South Indian Brahmin the name
of his father was tagged on, to distinguish him from the hundreds of thousands
of other Anands that walk the land. The system is simple: you get a name, one
name, and add it to your father's name. This is similar to the Icelandic tradition,
except the "son" part (as in Gustavson, Perutursson, etc.) is left out.
Anand with his parents at home in Madras – many years ago, in a country far,
far away
Now Anand's father is Viswanathan, an affable Railway executive who loves golf.
So it became Viswanathan Anand, which translates roughly to "Viswanathan's
son Anand". The spelling is correct, the 's' is usually pronounced "Vish..",
which is why the name is sometimes misspelled Vishwanathan. The stress (if any)
is on the first syllable: VISH-wah-nah-thaan – with all the 'a's as in 'father'.
[Addendum: a friend named Jagdish sent us the this
audio file with perfect Indian pronounciation.]
Quick IQ quiz: Anand's father is Krishnamurthy Viswanathan. What is Anand's
grandfather's name?
Now the correct way to address Anand is as follows:
- If you are a stranger and want to show respect call him Mr Anand;
- If you are a friend or in informal circumstances (in a gym or at a chess
tournament) call him Anand;
- Never call him Mr Viswanathan. That would be simply silly – an unexpected
mention of his father.
When Anand first came to visit and stay we all called him Anand (what else?).
He was 17 at the time. Some years later – I believe it was during an event in
Las Palmas and it was Max Dlugy, but I could be mistaken – I first heard someone
refer to him as "Vishy". I thought this was quite rude and asked Anand about
it. "No, I'm cool with that", he said. So Vishy it became, and over the years
people started calling him Vishy Anand.
Mr and Mrs Anand
When Anand got married his wife Aruna became Aruna Anand. I don't know why
in the case of women it appears to be that way around, but I have also heard
Anand being referred to as Anand Viswanathan, so maybe it is interchangable.
The polite form of address is Mrs Anand, if you know her well you can call her
Aruna. (Interestingly her father's name is Ananth, so before her marriage she
was Aruna Ananth – talk about minimizing the change!). When they are together
Aruna calls him Anand, as in "Aaanand, tell him to stop teasing me!" When she
talks about him to other people she may call him Vishy, probably because she
knows they will otherwise be confused.
Frederic Friedel
A selecton of memorable ChessBase reports on Anand
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Support teams in chess – All The King’s Men
21.10.2009 – Behind the kings of the chess
world, there’s a crack team of knights – or ‘seconds’, as they are called.
They work day and night, and spend months together locked up, and once
in a while they want to break the tension. In the team of World Champion
Viswanathan Anand Coldplay is staple music, but "the guys now also listen
to Tamil music." Jaideep
Unudurti reports on Outlook Business. |
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CNN-IBN: Anand on his coming year
27.06.2009 – World Champion Viswanathan Anand
is currently in his home town of Chennai, India, preparing for his upcoming
events. He spoke about them with the network CNN-IBN – about the rapid
chess tournament in Mainz, Germany, an event with Kramnik and Karpov.
He also speaks about Indian cricket and about the passing of pop superstar
Michael Jackson. Watch
the video. |
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Good humour, personal stories, and the champion's best
games
28.11.2008 – Vishy Anand's clear victory at
the World Championship in Bonn was the chess highlight of the year. During
the match one wag suggested Kramnik might have fared better had he watched
Anand's DVDs 'My Career'. Steve Goldberg of Chesscafe
did just that and enjoyed the great combination of humour, anecdotes and
in-depth annotation in volume two.
Buy it now or read more. |
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Back from Bonn – the hero returns
23.11.2008 – After his remarkable success at
the World Championship in Bonn, where he defended his title in a match
against Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand has returned to India and his native
Chennai to a hero's welcome. The festivities have just begun, but we have
first videos from the arrival, where thousands were gathered in spite
of the very late hour. Anand and his wife Aruna give interviews – in Tamil.
Fascinating. |
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Bring on Kasparov says Anand
01.11.2008 – That is just one of hundreds of
headlines in Indian newspapers and web news agencies. There are interviews
and video reports by Indian journalists who were in Bonn for the World
Championship match. Anand's parents speak, and wife Aruna admits she is
not the only woman behind Anand’s success. We bring you links and excerpts
from the most interesting of these effusive
reports. |
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World Championship Picture Gallery of the final day
30.10.2008 – The Match in Bonn
is over, Anand has won and retained his title. After the final, eleventh
game was over there was a brief prize-giving ceremony, a press conference,
and then a flurry of phone calls for the World Champion, most from his
native India. Finally, a relaxed celebratory dinner with his team, which
had emerged for the first time from the workrooms in the hotel. Big
pictorial report. |
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WCC R11: Fighting draw, Anand wins World Championship
by 6.5:4.5
29.10.2008 – It was a game of almost unbearable
tension. Anand switched to 1.e4, Vladimir Kramnik went for do-or-die complications,
Anand obliged, and for a couple of hours nobody knew what would happen.
In the end, Vishy Anand prevailed, got a slightly better position and
Vladimir Kramnik offered a draw. Anand remains World Champion. First report
with comments
by Garry Kasparov and Malcolm Pein.
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Vishy Anand: 'Chess is like acting'
01.10.2008 – In a rare interview before the
World Championship, which begins in less than two weeks in Bonn, Germany,
the reigning champion Viswanathan Anand speaks about the title match against
Russian Vladimir Kramnik, about his training in the cellar, the role of
emotions and his meeting with Bobby Fischer. The story is in the SPIEGEL,
one of Europe's largest new portals. Must-read
interview. |
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New DVDs: Anand – My Career in Chess
22.08.2008 – Acclaimed as the "Fastest Brain
in the World", Vishy Anand is the world number one and World Champion.
Experts rate him as one of the biggest natural talents in the history
of the game. Easy-going and humorous, he is also one of the best-loved
players. Now he has recorded two ChessBase DVDs on his career, with a
total of over eight hours of video comments and annotations. Order
now. |
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AMD plays its first game with Vishy Anand
26.06.2008 – The World Chess Champion has signed
a deal with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), the company that develops
computer processors and related technologies and is the second-largest
global supplier of microprocessors. Anand is now the brand model for AMD,
which is driving large ad campaigns with him. We bring you the first
TV ad and some cool wallpaper. |
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Devil's Advocate: Viswanathan Anand on mind games
13.05.2008 – World chess champion Viswanathan
Anand is set for his title-defending match against challenger Vladimir
Kramnik in October. Anand says Kramnik's challenge and taunts don't bother
him because he believes "the main thing" is to win. "My own tendency is
to just ignore him," Anand told Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate in CNN-IBN
Live. Videos
and transcripts. |
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A personal portrait of World Champion Anand
23.12.2007 – The Indian network CNN-IBN has
published an extraordinary TV portrait of Viswanathan Anand. In it Anand
himself, his wife Aruna, his and her parents, friends, trainers, colleagues,
all talk about the nation's favourite son. This includes music, food,
clothing, travel, hobbies, ambitions, salsa and kickboxing. Yes, kickboxing.
Take some time to watch this broadcast. It is a Christmas
treat. |
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The Homecoming – Anand arrives in Chennai
18.10.2007 – The new world chess champion,
Viswanathan Anand, hails from Madras in South India, a city today known
as Chennai. After a brief sojourn in Delhi Anand at last flew into his
home town, where he was awaited by tens of thousands of fans. It was not
easy to get shots of the champion in the throng. Our reporter Arvind Aaron
did his best and presents visual
impressions. |
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Anand mobbed on arrival in India
16.10.2007 – This is what happens when you
become world champion and one billion fans are waiting for you to return
to your native country. Viswanathan Anand arrived just after midnight
in New Delhi, where chaotic scenes ensued while press and public jostled
to get a glimpse of him. Anand took it in his stride and on Monday evening
visited the president of the country. News
reports. |
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World Championship Mexico: the closing ceremony
01.10.2007 – After his win on Saturday night
Vishy Anand was treated to a fine victory dinner by his hosts. Then, on
Sunday, a long day of activies followed, crowned by the celebrations and
festivities of the closing ceremony, in which the new world champion was
crowned. Now it is Sunday night, muy tarde – very late. Before we embark
on our return trip we bring you pictorial
impressions. |
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Who is this chess player – it was the Vish!
10.09.2007 – We asked you to guess who this
smart young boy was, and provided some more or less helpful clues. Turns
out it was Vishy Anand at six, depicted in an interesing article written
by Manisha Mohite for the Indian news portal Sify, which printed a retrospect
for the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence. Today, of course, Anand
is the world's number one.
The Story of Indian Chess |
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Susheela Viswanathan: 'I am a very proud mother'
04.04.2007 – After Vishy Anand had bagged Morelia/Linares
it became obvious that he would soon appear as the world's strongest player
on the FIDE ratings list. In India his parent bore the brunt of the media
frenzy that ensued. Both mother Shusheela and father Viswanathan were
persuaded to write short pieces about their famous and well beloved son.
Very
interesting insights. |
Four-part indepth portrait of Vishy Anand
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Anand on chess – from square one to the World Championship
in Bonn
19.02.2009 – Viswanathan Anand has won it all:
the knockout, tournament and match world championships, blitz and rapid
– you name it. He is the strongest Indian chess player in history, and
one of the strongest in the world, ever. In a multi-hour interview Anand
sat down with Indian journalists and described his career, candidly and
in rare detail. Today you can read the first section: part
one – the early years. |
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Anand on chess as a profession and on computers
23.02.2009 – World Champion Viswanathan Anand
was one of the pioneers in the use of computers for chess. He started
using chess database just months after Kasparov, and stuck with information
technology ever since. In part two of his indepth interview Anand also
speaks about books, professional chess and sporting heros. We have dug
up some unique
hstorical pictures. |
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Anand in interview – on intuition, creativity and blitz
chess
14.03.2009 – In the past month we brought you
two sections of an unprecedented in-depth interview conducted by Indian
colleagues with World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Today we continue the
series with Anand's take on game formats, computer moves (ugly or creative?),
Karpov, Kasparov, and secretly watching people on the chess servers. Part
three of four. |
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Anand on the World Championship in Bonn
08.04.2009 – In the fourth and final part of
our interview series Viswanathan Anand talks about his games against Vladimir
Kramnik last October. When did his seconds tell him he had missed a forced
mate? When did he decide to play 1.d4 with white? How close exactly was
game five, and how many minutes before its start did he decide what to
play? Fascinating
insights. |
Anand – My Career in Chess
In March 2007 Vishwanathan Anand reached the number one spot on the world ranking
lists by winning the prestigious Linares tournament. In September 2007 Anand
won the World Championship for the second time in his career, when in Mexico
he became the undisputed World Chess Champion, ending a schism in the chess
world which had lasted for many years.
If his talent as a rapid chess player is legendary, his records in classical
chess have been superlative. In January 2006 he became the only player in the
tournament's 70-year history to win the Corus Chess event five times (1989,
1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006). He has won the Linares Super Tournament twice (1998
and 2007), the Dortmund GM three times (1996, 2000 and 2004), and countless
other important events like, Madrid Masters, Biel, etc.
Anand: My Career Vol. 1
The first DVD with videos from Anand's chess career reflects the very beginning
of that career and goes as far as 1999. It starts with his memories of how he
first learned chess and shows his first great games (including those from the
1984 World Championship for juniors). The high point of his early developmental
phase was the winning of the 1987 WCh for juniors. After that, things continue
in quick succession: the first victories over Kasparov, World Championship candidate
in both the FIDE and PCA cycles, and the high point of the World Championship
match against Kasparov in 1995.
3:48 hours playing time.
Anand: My Career Vol. 2
The second DVD begins in 2000, when Anand became FIDE World Champion, and
it ends with his victory in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico. Anand not
only analyses his best games, but casts a look back at the World Championshp
in Delhi/Teheran in 2000 and the years before, he discusses the situation in
the Bundesliga and Kasparov's retirement from tournament chess.
4:28 hours playing time.
Price per volume:
| 32.90 |
€ incl.
VAT |
| 27.65 |
€ without
VAT (for Customers outside the European Union) |
| 42.85 |
US $ (without
VAT) |
Click
to order
