Viswanathan Anand retains World Chess Championship.

[nandu]

Indians jubiliant as Anand retains world chess crown

New Delhi - Fans and family of India's Viswanathan Anand rejoiced Wednesday after the grandmaster retained his world chess title defeating Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in a dramatic finale, media reports said.

Anand, 40, won the title of the world chess federation FIDE with a stunning victory in the final of the 12-game duel against Topalov in Sofia on Tuesday.

The chess wizard from India's southern Chennai city, clinched an overall 6.5-5.5 victory to win his fourth Chess title. He had previously won the title in 2000, 2007 and 2008.

Anand told Indian news channels that the final game was the "toughest-ever" in his career.

"Topalov's one of the strongest players in the world and also one of the grittiest .. I feel a decade older after this match," he told the NDTV network from Sofia.

"I'm just relieved that I'm going to wake up tomorrow as the world champion," an elated Anand said.

Anand's father, Vishwanathan Iyer, told reporters in Chennai that his son's persistence and determination helped him secure the title.

"When he lost the first game, it was a big upset. But he got back into the game very quickly and each and every game showed his talent," he told the PTI news agency.

Anand victory came despite reaching Bulgaria with preparations in a disarray.

He made it to Sofia after a 40-hour road journey as volcanic ash in European skies disrupted the air route. His request for a three-day postponement of the championship was rejected.

"A champion shows his class and we are proud of his resilience and victory," All India Chess Federation president N Srinivasan said.

Meanwhile, Anand's fans were congratulating him on blogs and websites.

"In a country which is little about sports and where cricket is all about money, ads, match-fixing and glamour, Anand has done India proud," a fan wrote on the the NDTV website.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/...liant-as-anand-retains-world-chess-crown.html

 

[nandu]

Nice to know I can wake up as World Champion: Viswanathan Anand

World champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday retained his crown winning the World Chess Championship title by wrapping up the final game against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Anand achieved an improbable win playing with black in the final game to retain the world title by 6.5-5.5 margin after the end of the 12th and final game here.

Speaking to NDTV after the win, an elated Anand said: "Nice to know I can wake up as World Champion."
Experts over the world had predicted that Topalov, at his worst, will draw the last game under normal time control and then the match will be headed in to the rapid tiebreaker.

However, it was not to be as Topalov, trying to look for complications, went haywire in a slightly difficult position and could not recover as Anand kept dealing one lethal blow after another to notch up his fourth world title in 11 years to remain the undisputed king of the game once again.

But Anand refused to play down his opponent's strength. "Topalov is one of the grittiest opponents," Anand said.

The four-time World Champion, who hopes to return to India in a week's time, gave away his secret to relaxation. "Watching Lord of the Rings helped me relax," he said.

Earlier, in 2008 Anand had won the world title in a match against Russian Vladimir Kramnik, in 2006 he had won the world championship match tournament ahead of almost all top players in the world and in the year 2000 he had won the championship when it was held on a knockout basis.

Anand, thus became the first official world champion in recent history to win two back-to-back matches in world championships against different opponents.

Vladimir Kramnik can also lay his claims for that but for the fact that the match he won against Garry Kasparov in 2000 was not played under the official FIDE flag.

If the last game was any indication, Anand had indeed reserved his best as he knew Topalov will go all out for a win.

The reason for Topalov's unwarranted aggression was probably based on the fact that Anand is by far regarded as the best rapid chess player in history and Topalov does not have any great reputation in the faster version of the game.

Naturally, the Bulgaria wanted to avoid the tiebreaker.

Anand came up with another opening surprise as he went back to the basics. The Queen's Gambit declined as black has a solid reputation and it stood up for Anand's quest as the Indian ace went for the rock-solid Lasker variation.

Topalov, tried to create complications earlier but when the game headed towards a perfect balance, the Bulgarian lost his cool. The decisive moment of the game came on the 32nd move when Topalov simply lost his cool and blundered.

What followed was a feast for the Indian as he could attack the white king at will. All Anand's pieces, joined the party and threats of checkmate loomed large on Topalov. For once the support of the home crowd did not matter too.

Anand, apparently, made a mistake on the infamous 40th move but his position was so commanding that it did not spoil his game. Topalov fought on for sometime before giving up as the Indian won in 56 moves.

Anand's Achievements


* 4 World titles: 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010
* 5 time winner of Chess Oscar
* World Junior Champion, 1987
* 1st recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
* 1st to have won a title at each each of the Chess Supertournaments
* Oldest to become World No 1 for the 1st time!

http://www.ndtv.com/news/sports/viswanathan-anand-retains-world-chess-title-24819.php?u=06&u=942

 

[nandu]

Is Anand India's greatest sportsman ever?

I have often wondered why Viswanathan Anand doesn't get enough recognition for his unique achievements and the enormous inspirational role he has played in almost single handedly popularizing chess in the country. I mean what was the chess scenario in India before 1987 when Anand became the first Asian to win the world junior championship and shortly afterwards became the country's first grandmaster?

There was just one International Master (IM) in Manuel Aaron, India's standing in world chess was next to nothing and chess itself was looked upon as a leisurely relaxation or time pass instead of a serious sport that is played in well over 100 countries with a passionate following in many of them. (There are a total of 200 countries affiliated to FIDE).

There was a following for chess in India, fittingly enough, for the country reputedly invented it and people were familiar with the great names associated with the sport like Petrosian, Tal, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. I know for sure that the famous world championship between Fischer and Spassky was followed quite keenly by chess fans in this country as was the long, intense and sometimes bitter rivalry between Karpov and Kasparov.

But all we could do was to sit back and applaud the achievements of the chess greats mostly from the Soviet Union until Fischer broke the monopoly. How we wished that someone from the country that gave birth to chess could shine on the international stage! But through the years no one of that stature emerged until the mid 80s when Anand suddenly started showing signs of becoming the first Indian chess great.

Record breaking was a habit for the cherubic lad from Madras for he became the youngest national sub-junior champion (at 14), the youngest Indian IM (at 15) and youngest national champion (at 16). However being aware of the infuriating penchant for Indian sports prodigies to falter and fade away rapidly, we were a bit cautious or even skeptical.

We need not have been for Anand even as a teenager was mentally very strong. Besides talent aplenty, he had an ideal temperament, a burning desire to succeed and even become the best in the business. For him being second best was nothing less than being a loser.

It was when he performed the dual feat in 1987-88 of becoming the first Asian to win the world junior title and followed it up by becoming India's first GM that we realized that here was a really special talent who could go far. Anand was not going to be a fluke, a meteor but one who would go on to greater things. In racing parlance, he was a stayer not a sprinter. And over the last 20 years he has made the country proud by his manifold achievements culminating in being crowned world champion more than once.

In a chess world that is fiercely competitive and dominated by Russians and Eastern Bloc countries, Anand is the one opponent who is respected and even feared. From the 'Lightning Kid' days when he used to mesmerize audiences and opponents alike with his aggressive, super fast moves in the game of 64 squares, Anand has gradually acquired defensive skills that have seen him outwit the best of opponents.

T20 World Cup

He has come a long way, having an ELO rating of over 2800 (one among only five players in history to break this mark), winning the Chess Oscar a unique six times and being awarded the nation's second highest civilian award (the Padma Vibhushan) besides being the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

Possibly even more than these accomplishments and accolades, Anand is revered as a role model and a mentor. No one in Indian sport has played a greater inspirational role than Anand and this is underlined by the simple fact that since he broke the barrier there are now more than sixty IMs and over 20 GMs in this country. Such is the depth in Indian chess that the team won a bronze medal in the World Team Championship in Turkey without his services.

The Anand effect has produced world champions from under-10 to the junior level. Boys and girls want to be the next Anand. He is the yardstick by which others in Indian, nay world chess are judged. At 40 he can sit back on his many achievements but Anand is always searching for greener pastures.

The latest honour at Sofia places him on a pedestal up there and raises the question – is he the No 1 Indian sportsman ever? Certainly it would be easier to argue for him than against him for after all he is the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament and Matchplay. As for me there has been no doubt in my mind for some years now that he is the greatest.

http://sify.com/sports/is-anand-india-s-greatest-sportsman-ever-news-chess-kfmlUJcgddi.html

 

[nandu]

I misjudged Topalov: Anand

THE MASTER: India's Viswanathan Anand (right) in action against Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov during the 12th game of the World chess championship in Sofia on Tuesday.


Less than a day after retaining the world chess title, Viswanathan Anand was eagerly looking to catch some sleep. "More than anything else, I need some rest. After a point, the tension gets to you. So right now, I am looking forward to lots of sleep."

After a job well done, a relieved Anand took some time for The Hindu and reflected on the Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov, several key moments of the match, the preparation that went into the contest and much more.

On the match strategy: In one sense, I think, I misjudged him. He made certain changes during the match. One of the things we assumed was, he always likes moving around in matches.

This means, he'll play an opening for a couple of games and then move on to the next one. His match strategy in the past was never to stand his ground. Kind of hit-and-run strategy.

So, whether consciously or sub-consciously, we had made this assumption the basis of our preparation. But he stood his ground. He did not switch his openings.

We started having problem in the second half because we were thin in the areas he had concentrated on. And we ourselves were doing the hitting and running. So there was some coping there.

In terms of the opening preparation, we made some bad calls. The team did some excellent work but in a match it is not about excellent work but making the right judgement call. If you prepare something and it does not get played, it is not much use. So in that sense, he did surprise me.

On the difficult phase of the match: I missed a few. Game 7 to 10 were very difficult for me. I felt he started taking the match initiative during this phase.

In Game 8, he did press me; he had a good idea and all, but having escaped, and then to blunder and lose was bad. And in Game 10, when I was losing, I thought that, after the last three games, if I were to lose and fall behind, it would be very difficult (to bounce back).

On the final game: I think Topalov took a big gamble. Now it seems obvious to me that this gamble was wrong. I realised he missed my queen move but still, when my bishop is on the big diagonal like that, and to allow me to open it, he took the decision very late.

On dealing with the loss in the opening game: It was one of those ridiculous moments that you are not supposed to have but it happens. The only thing I told myself was if it had to happen, it is best to happen in the first round. You still have time to recover. I knew it would be a long match. I was not worried at that point. But it was the worst possible start to the match.

On winning Game 2 and 4: Topalav was plucky. He was doing a fine job out of the opening but made a mistake. I pounced and made some very accurate moves. I mean, technically, it is still difficult but I managed to wrap it up in some six or seven moves from this point. I thought it was efficient. Game 2 was important because it helped me equalise.

Game 4 was nice. It was just a beautiful game. Some lovely tactics.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/article428341.ece

 

[nandu]

Anand was destined to go far: Alexey Dreev

A file photo of Grandmaster Alexey Dreev

Viswanathan Anand's long journey to four world chess titles began with a small step. It started in January 1991 at Chennai and the man who stood between Anand and a place in the quarterfinals was Russian Alexey Dreev.

Anand's resounding victory in the best-of-eight game match is still remembered for the mature way in which the debutant Indian handled the pressures of a match, that too, while playing at home. Even when the two met again at Moscow, in the 2001 World championship pre-quarterfinals, Anand came out superior.

After Anand stopped Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov to retain the title on Monday, Dreev was least surprised at the verdict. At Ghaziabad, as the top seed of the on-going Commonwealth championship, Dreev said, "I always expected Anand to win because he is a tricky player. Anand has the match experience and the way he beat Vladimir Kramnik in the last world title match (in 2008), he was my obvious favourite. When we played in 1991, I knew he was very talented and destined to go far. Since then, Anand has become a very strong player. MEven from our junior days, I've admired his understanding of the game."

Incidentally, the day Anand tamed Dreev, Dibyendu Barua became the country's second Grandmaster. Barua, the country's first child prodigy who promised what Anand eventually went on to achieve, was equally elated to watch old friend toppling Topalov.

Right approach

"I think, the experience and temperament of Anand made the difference. Considering Topalov's attacking style, Anand's approach was just right. Anand bounced back from the defeat in the opening game and then took the lead. He also defended well in the second half. In the final game, Anand's choice of opening gave him the psychological edge. And when it mattered, Anand held his nerves."

Barua's close friend and country's third Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, described Anand's preparation, both strategically and psychologically, as crucial. "I've always maintained that Topalov is a fundamentally unsound player. That is one of the reasons why he lost his nerve in the final game. Topalov's decision to accept the pawn-offer was a wild one. On the other hand, the longer the game went, Anand looked more vulnerable. He seemed to lack stamina. That's why he erred in the eighth game and could not convert his advantage into a victory in the ninth game. In fact, I expected Anand to win well before the final game."

Tense battle

Among the new generation GMs, Parimarjan Negi felt, "Topalov's strategy of tiring out Anand did not work. At some stage, Topalov did overestimate his chances. It was a tense battle and that reflected in the number of mistakes seen in the 12 games. It was very thrilling and Anand kept his cool in the crunch situation."

Abhijeet Gupta, one of the performing Indian youngsters in recent years, said, "Anand not only showed better nerves but also made fewer mistakes. It was particularly heartening to see Anand fighting back after losing the opener and again in several games where Topalov seemed to hold the upper hand."

Abhijit Kunte made an interesting point when he said," Anand unleashed the 'novelties' early in the match and that unsettled Topalov in the first half. With this, perhaps, Anand has shown a new way to prepare, a clear departure from what the players did in the past."

Tejas Bakre described the victory as a "fabulous one" and said, "Anand's preparation made the huge difference. He was ready to the challenges Topalov hurled at him. In the end, the better player clearly won."

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article429111.ece

 

[Rebelkid]

He is the best sportman India ever had

 

[nandu]

PM Congratulates Anand On His Fourth World Chess Championship Triumph

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday congratulated Viswanathan Anand on his fourth World Chess Championship triumph. Lauding the champion PM said that he has made the country proud.

In his congratulatory message, the prime minister said,"I am delighted to salute you at your fourth World Chess Championship triumph within a decade."

"You have made the country proud and I join millions of admirers of the game of chess in celebrating your magnificent triumph."

"I understand that your championship game in Sofia was played under the most difficult circumstances but you proved once again that you remain the grandest of Grand Masters," he added.

The disruption in flights in Europe due to volcanic ash had made it difficult for Anand to reach the venue in Sofia. Anand had to take a 40-hour long tiring road journey to reach Sofia.Anand clinched his fourth world chess title. He had previously won in 2000, 2007 and 2008.

http://www.india-server.com/news/pm-congratulates-anand-on-his-fourth-26496.html

 

[ajtr]

Bulgaria PM and the Chess Champion, With world chess cup and the Bulgarian GM medal



Exclusive Anand video by Europe Echecs

 

[RAM]

Why this nice guy always wins

Cricket and chess: two sports, two cultures and at two poles in India. Mere hours before India were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup, bringing in its wake a veiled attack from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the IPL and its after-effect on his team, a soft-spoken Indian, weathering all odds, was scripting his own epic in the world of chess.

Viswanathan Anand is not a man of many words, but he will talk to you at length if you can draw him into a conversation on chess, its positions and possibilities. However, when you invite him to talk about the hardships that he had to face in a particular event, he prefers to say very little.

He came to Sofia two weeks back as a weary traveller, having traversed 2,000 km by road over two days after his flight from Frankfurt was cancelled following the disruption of air traffic in Europe. He requested a three-day postponement of his World chess championship match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and was denied, just because he had to go to his opponent's backyard to prove himself again. The Bulgarian treatment was not surprising if you consider the mind-game culture of top-flight chess.

So, without dwelling too much on the handicap at the start of a major event, Anand focused on the championship. He lost the first game, but came back strongly to take the lead and subsequently won the last game with black to keep his crown - in adverse conditions. Our cricketers would fret and fume in those conditions because they are the pampered lot in Indian sport, their loss getting more eyeballs and attention on TV, media and the people's parleys than Anand winning mind games on 64 squares.

What's striking is that Anand has never complained about it. He remains the same individual, even after winning four World championships. He still goes through airports in India without being noticed, by his own admission, and that in his book would probably go down as an advantage, rather than a handicap.

Perhaps, there is a sociological reason for it too. Ask Manuel Aaron, India's first International Master and nine-time national champion, and he would look for a completely different argument. "Chess is not like cricket. One is action sport, the other one is participation sport. You do anything in cricket, it can be watched on TV, so naturally people will follow it," says Aaron. "I don't think if Anand were as eloquent as Garry Kasaprov it would have made any difference to the sport or to him," adds Aaron who feels things would be different only if both the person and the sport were different, citing the inherent weaknesses of chess as a spectator sport.

In a way, this personality trait also helped Anand overcome several obstacles and keep his focus on the sport. "I would say he has only benefited from his quiet nature. He could concentrate on the game and that is why at 40, he is still playing the best chess," notes Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, the world No 2 in women's rankings and a world champion in waiting (in women's ).

If you look at the positions that Anand chose in the match against Topalov, it was clear that he was playing on the weakness of his rival. Anand, the quiet one adopting quiet positions to drive an aggressive Topalov up the wall made for great world championship theatre. But a closer look at his career would reveal that his 'quiet' nature at times became a target for his opponents. Like when he had to qualify from the World knockout tournament to play the title match against Anatoly Karpov in Lausanne in 1997. Anand never raised a storm when he was tired after the long qualification tournament while a fresh Karpov waited with all his energy. A quip was all that the Indian made; and that too about his own plight, that he was "brought in a coffin" to play Karpov.

Anand's nature never allowed him to get into controversies.

Rewind to 1995 for confirmation. Kasparov was down after Anand struck with white in the ninth game of the PCA (Professional Chess Association) title match in New York. In the next game, Kasparov came back with a demonstration of his arrogance by intimidating Anand - thumping the clock after each move and slamming the door behind his opponent every time he went out to the private area. Anand quietly took all the gamesmanship in his stride and waited for his time.

Aaron would probably recall the National A chess tournament in Kurukshetra in 1986 when all the players except a teenager called Anand (already the national champion) and himself (Aaron was the secretary of All India Chess Federation then and also one of the participants) complained about the playing conditions and boycotted the event. The federation had to change the venue to Tumkur. The world champion is not one to play politics, he would only play chess.

With his gentle image, Anand has been taken for granted by his own people too at least once because he could not say 'no' to the request of a sponsor during the World Championship Candidates matches in Sanghinagar in 1994. Sitting pretty with a 1.5-point lead with two games to go against Gata Kamsky of the US in the FIDE quarterfinals, the organisers wanted to host a party on the rest day and invited Anand, almost celebrating his victory in advance. He obliged while Kamsky skipped the party and the result was a knockout for the 'good guy' after the match went into the tiebreaker.

Anand must have swiftly learned his lesson because in a rematch a few months later, Anand crushed Kamsky in Las Palmas and his friends in Spain (the Pereas) protected him throughout the event, not exposing him to the media at all. After the match, the Pereas made an interesting comment that Indians did not know how to handle their champions (a dig at the Sanghinagar episode) and they wanted to show how it could be done.

If he was just the good guy then, Anand is smarter, wiser and more practical today. His world is chess, and there are no external pulls or distractions - no publicity, no controversies and no issues. He is a billion people's mind champion; and in his own quiet way, the special one

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-nice-guy-always-wins/articleshow/5933145.cms

 

[nandu]

I played fast and furious near climax: Anand

KOLKATA: Sharing the secret of his success at the World Championship, Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand on Monday said he unnerved rival Veselin Topalov by playing fast and aggressively towards the climax of title battle.

"Inevitably, you start to adapt your opponent's game after a few rounds. I was observing him for 7-10 games. In the 10th game, I switched back to play faster and fought back... It seemed to have an affect on him (Topalov)," Anand said about his secret of the success in Sophia in May.

Anand said it was the most difficult World Championship as none of the earlier championships went full distance.

"For the first time, it went full distance and was undecided till the last round. It was a see-saw and a pretty unique struggle. We fought till the end, so clearly it's the toughest of them all. But I am not sure of the toughest opponent yet," the genial Chennai based king of chess said.

After losing the opening game, Anand won the second, fourth and 12th (last) game to retain the title with a 6.5-5.5 win over the Bulgarian.

Asked to react on Topalov's criticism of him taking help from others, Anand said, "I have nothing to react now... I have already reacted by accepting the help and I did that gladly. I will do it again."

Besides wife Aruna, Anand had a four-member team comprising Peter Heine-Nielsen (Denmark), Surya Sekar Ganguly (India), Wojtasek (Poland) and former World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan).

Anand praised Surya Sekar Ganguly for being very effective as a team member.

"He is a very good chess player and analyst who works really hard. We work together for last six-seven years and will work together for a long time. Why change formula when it's working," he said of his team.

On his former rival Gary Kasparov having words of encouragement for him, Anand said, "It was a big boost for the morale. We were friends, but it really feels good when you know somebody as your rival for so many years gives some words of encouragement..."

Anand also thanked his wife Aruna and said, "She did all the heavy lifting work. I am really thankful that I have someone with whom I can talk after the game and relieve myself".

Asked about his recipe for staying cool, he said, "I think I have only managed to look cool. I will be lying if I say I am not tense. But I have gained some perspective from the experience. You are tense before a game but at the board the dynamics take over and you feel relaxed".

Anand said chess can be mastered by anyone given a right direction at any good moment.

"It's a question of practise and right guidance at the right time. It can be encouraged in all ages and I think everyone can shine in chess. There is no real shortcuts, it's like learning a language. If you like the game it becomes easier as the workload becomes less."

Anand was in the city to launch the NIIT inter-college chess competition where 10,000 students across the state will vie for top honours.

"It's really good to see that there is so much of enthusiasm at college level for the last 20 years. They are very well informed. Even they are short on time, they still follow a lot. It will be an annual event, hope it will be a great success and become a major institution in few years," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ous-near-climax-Anand/articleshow/6048056.cms