Happy Birthday Vishwanathan Anand: Five lesser-known facts about India’s first chess Grandmaster

Vishwanathan Anand, an Indian chess grandmaster is the one who has pioneered the rise and popularity of chess in India. It’s difficult to fathom how chess would have developed in the country without his manoeuvres. In a country where this sport has always been considered a niche one, the recent craze can only be credited to the five-time world champion. Anand was the first global chess legend to hail from India and is frequently regarded as the best rapid player of his period. Vishwanathan Anand celebrates his 53rd birthday today, On this special occasion, let’s take a look at some interesting facts about the “Tiger of Madras”:

Anand achieved the first national championship of his career in 1983 by winning the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship at the age of 14. He earned the title of International Master the following year, making him the youngest Indian to do so. He won the national chess championship the subsequent year and repeated it in the next two consecutive editions till 1988. In the same year, he was crowned with the title of “Grandmaster” for the first time after winning the Shakti Finance International Chess Tournament in Coimbatore.

Throughout his decorated career, Anand won the Oscar for chess six times. The first one came in 1997, and he followed that up with successes in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008.
When then-US President Barack Obama visited India in 2010, Anand was the only sportsperson of the country invited to the dinner thrown by the then-Indian PM Manmohan Singh on 7 November.

Anand authored a book named “My Best Games of Chess” in order to document his chess journey. For this publication, he received the British Chess Federation’s “Book of the Year” award in 1998.

At the age of 18, Anand received the coveted Padma Shri award. In 2007, he became the first Indian sportsman in history to receive the honour of Padma Vibhushan. In 1991–1992, he also became the first person to be awarded India’s highest sporting accolade, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (now Major Dhyan Chand Award).

A minor planet discovered in 1988 was officially named after Anand and is known as “(4538) Vishyanand”. After Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov, Anand is the only other chess player to have a minor planet named in his honour.

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