Viswanathan Anand

## Background Information

Viswanathan Anand is a Five Time World Chess Champion from India and has won the world chess champions in all different formats. He became the FIDE World Champion in 2000 and held the title until 2002. He then went on to become the undisputed world champion in 2007. He has defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010 and Boris Gelfand in 2012. However he lost to Magnus Carlsen in 2013, ending his 6 year reign as World Chess Champion. Anand is nicknamed "The Tiger of Madras" as well as "The Lightning Kid" due to his ability to play very fast in complex positions. He has been an inspiration for many Indian youths and is the reason for the large number of Indian chess players in the country. His peak rating was 2817. He is described as a gentleman and is respected by many players.

## 2007 World Chess Championship Match:

In 2007, the status of the world champion was decided in a double round-robin tournament which was held in Mexico. The tournament featured several top rated grandmasters including: Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Leko, Boris Gelfand, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk . Anand won the tournament with a score of 9 out of 14 scoring four wins and 10 draws. Therefore becoming world champion for the second time.

* Levon Aronian vs Viswanathan Anand (0-1)[Round 2]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Peter Svidler (1-0) [Round 4]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Alexander Grischuk (1-0) [Round 7]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Alexander Morozevich (1-0) [Round 11]

## 2008 World Chess Championship Match:

In 2008, after Anand won the world chess championship double-robin, a match was created between the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and the current world champion. The event is important as Anand did not win his title in the traditional way like the world champions before him thus he had to prove that he was capable of holding the status. Vladimir Kramnik was already a strong champion as he defeated Garry Kasparov in 2000. The match ended in 11 games and Anand was officially the undisputed world champion winning three games, losing one and drawing seven.

* Vladimir Kramnik vs Viswanathan Anand (0-1) [Game 3]
* Vladimir Kramnik vs Viswanathan Anand (0-1) [Game 5]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Vladimir Kramnik (1-0) [Game 6]
* Vladimir Kramnik vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 10]

## 2010 World Chess Championship Match:

In 2010, Anand faced another strong opponent from Bulgaria, Veselin Topalov. Topalov was a challenger before when he played a controversial match against Vladimir Kramnik. The match was held in Sofia, Bulgaria and was delayed by a volcanic eruption. In one of Anand's anecdotes, he revealed that his plane flights were canceled and so he had to ride a bus all the way to Sofia for the match.

* Veselin Topalov vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 1]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov (1-0) [Game 2]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov (1-0) [Game 4]
* Veselin Topalov vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 8]
* Veselin Topalov vs Viswanathan Anand (0-1) [Game 12]

## 2012 World Chess Championship Match:

In 2012, Anand played another challenger from Israel named Boris Gelfand who convincingly won the candidates ahead of various top players in a knockout format. This match was one of Anand's toughest match yet as he had to rely on rapid tiebreaks to defeat Gelfand. The match was drawn after 12 games, and four additional games were put in place to decide who would be world champion.

* Boris Gelfand vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 7]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Boris Gelfand (1-0) [Game 8]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Boris Gelfand (1-0) [Game 14 Tiebreak]

## 2013 World Chess Championship Match:

After defending the title for so long, Anand faced another tough challenger in the name of Magnus Carlsen in 2013 who became the highest rated chess player ever and the world number one in terms of ranking. This time the match was held in Chennai, India which was Anand's home turf though it added much more pressure to him playing in front of local crowd. The match was decided in 10 games, Anand lost three games and drew seven. Hence his 6 year reign on top of the chess world ended by the Norwegian star Carlsen.

* Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 5]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen (0-1) [Game 6]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen (0-1) [Game 9]
* Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand (1/2-1/2) [Game 10]

## 2014 World Chess Championship Match:

Many critics began to doubt Anand, telling him to retire after being world champion for so long. However he proved them all wrong, by winning the 2014 candidates hence earning the rights to duel against Carlsen at the chess board. This time he came better prepared but lost the match to Carlsen with one win, three losses and seven draws in Sochi Russia.

* Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 2]
* Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen (1-0) [Game 3]
* Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 6]
* Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand (1-0) [Game 11]