Viswanathan Anand
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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Career
1991-2019: The highs and lows of Anand’s career
Amit Karmakar, Dec 11, 2019 Times of India
‘HIGHS'
1991: Surgical strike in Italy
Becoming the first GM of India in 1988 was big. But the title at Reggio Emilia was bigger as he won an elite Category 18 tournament ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. Anand defeated Kasparov with black pieces and announced his arrival on world stage.
2001: New FIDE champ unveiled in an ancient culture
Being the knockout format, it wasn’t an undisputed title but he broke the ceiling. Before humbling Alexei Shirov of Spain for the title in Tehran, Iran, his domination in the New Delhi segment was noteworthy.
2008: Bonn genius
It was the crowning glory. Vladimir Kramnik and the superiority complex of the Soviet School in Matchplay format was crushed in most emphatic manner. Daring to open with d4, playing Meran in Semi Slav and coming up endgame mastery was legendary stuff. Undisputed world champion.
2010: Sofia sizzler
Defeated Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov in his own den in challenging circumstances. First, the travelling woes. Then realizing huge hardware and software technological supremacy of his rival. Was willing to play minus positions before coming up with a win via Lasker Defense in the 12th and decisive game with black pieces.
2014-18: Ageless warrior
Riding on some lucky breaks, won the Candidates tournament of 2014 in Khanty-Mansiysk and qualified again for the World title match against Magnus Carlsen on merit, not via politics. The field included younger and far more computer-savvy opponents. Also won World rapid title in presence of Carlsen in Riyadh two years ago and Tata Blitz meet in Kolkata last year.
1994: Choke at Sanghinagar
In line to take on Kasparov and Karpov for the PCA and FIDE titles respectively, Anand lost to Gata Kamsky in Candidates from a winning position. He took the lead, failed to land a killer punch and then lost a rapid playoff game in just 17 moves.
1995: Toy in Kasparov’s hand
Anand qualified in a bid to dethrone Garry Kasparov (PCA title). Though he led in a 20-game match, the Russian brought him to Ground Zero, unleashing Sicilian Dragon and toyed with Anand’s psyche. Match over with two games to spare.
1998: Knockout bust against Karpov
Followed by an incredible feat of winning the first knockout phase of its kind in chess involving almost 100 players at Groningen (1997), Anand allowed Anatoly Karpov to run away with the title via rapid tiebreak, at Lausanne.
2013, 2014: Scars of Chennai, Sochi
Anand allowed Magnus Carlsen to prove his superiority due to an ultradefensive approach, over-reliance on research rather than on-board scuffle and lost his crown at home. Failed to win a single game and lost three. Though he won one game in Sochi next year, the willingness to smell chances and convert them was sorely missing.
2018-19: Draw is norm
Barring a couple of exceptional tournaments, continued to embrace the draw. He scored zero wins in Grenke Classic and Sinquefield (2018), Sinquefield, Croatia and Norway blitz (2019).
1991-2019: Chidanand Rajghatta’s assessment
Chidanand Rajghatta Dec 11, 2019 Times of India
A BLACK & WHITE LIFE
Vishy Anand, Who Turns 50 Today, Symbolizes The Joy Of Chess And The Exuberance Of Life
Chidanand.Rajghatta@timesgroup.com
This five-time world champion from India, a Grandmaster so versatile that he is the only player to have won the world championship in tournament, match, and knockout format, as well as rapid time controls, and who has graced the highest levels of the game and is still going strong, at 50?
Back around 1990, this young kid had just won a major tournament and was passing though Delhi when I first called him. Following an interview that left me convinced he was destined for great things, I beseeched (and besieged!) the editors of Times of India that the story should run on Page One. They agreed; and our passionate coverage of the “lightning kid” — because of his speed of play — began.
By 1995, when he qualified to meet Garry Kasparov for the world title (played atop New York City’s World Trade Center), I had moved to the US. On 9/11, Anand was among the first people I harked back to — because we had spent time atop the iconic building that was rendered rubble.
There was of course a time when Anand himself was a minnow playing elder statesmen. In 1989, he played his only game against Vasily Smyslov, a former world champion, who was 68 then, in Groningen, Holland (they drew). The same year, he played Boris Spassky (then 52) twice at Cannes, winning one and drawing the other. Chess had plenty of grizzled veterans, sexagenarians and even septuagenarians during Anand’s early days.
Today, chess has increasingly become a young person’s game. By 40, most players are struggling to be in the Top 25. The average age of world’s top 100 GMs now is only around 31. In fact, Anand, at 50, is the oldest GM among the Top 25 by a long shot. His one-time peers and contemporaries are falling further and further behind: Vassily Ivanchuk, six months older is now ranked 45th. Boris Gelfand, a year older, is ranked 52nd. Evgeny Bareev and Gata Kamsky have even dropped out of the Top 100.
It is staggering then that Anand is still ranked 15th at 50 and duking it out regularly with guys young enough to be his sons — Carlsen at 29, Caruana at 27, Wesley So at 26, and some, like Polish prodigy Jan-Krzysztof Duda, a stripling at 21.
“I don’t can’t recall the first time I felt old … there was no definitive moment that yanked at my thoughts and filled me with cold dread over the approach of another birthday,” he writes. When you are young, it is easy to ascribe a spate of poor results to performance clefts but as he gets into his 40s, doubts begin. Particularly when he messes up against a younger player, like he did against Carlsen during their first world title clash in Chennai (which he lost 6.5-3.5 without a win), “my neural pathways literally light up, signaling, “Look, we told you this has to do with age!”
Remarkably, after that disaster and months off the circuit, Anand bounced back for another shot against Carlsen. Though he lost 6.5-4.5, it restored faith that the man 21 years younger to him is not unbeatable. Nor are the other young guns.
But perhaps not just yet, although there was revealing moment during Kolkata’s recent Tata Steel tournament when he narrowly missed a qualifying spot at the Grand Chess Tour Final in London. Anand nevertheless chose to see the bright side of life. “The good news is Akhil won second prize in a school competition in school. I am very happy about that,” he chuckled.
Vladimir Kramnik’s tribute
Vladimir Kramnik, Dec 11, 2019 Times of India
Happy 50th Birthday, Maestro! How time flies. I remember our first meeting, and it’s hard to believe that 30 years have gone by. It was in some 1989 tournament in Moscow, and a young Indian with a friendly, innocent look was playing his strong moves with the speed of a machine gun. He was so impressive!
We played our first official match, starting our ‘War and Peace’ saga right there. I have faced Anand on the board more often than any other player in my career. Our 92 battles (only counting classical time control) helped me a lot to improve my understanding of the game, and statistically it has ended in complete peace: 46 points each.
Thank you Anand for all your mighty unpleasant moves in those games and even for some painful defeats. Those were great and priceless lessons.
In certain aspects of the game, I could never manage his mastery, but as a true lover of chess — it was always a pleasure watching him weave his magic.
Anand’s contribution to the world of chess is way above his titles and instructive games he has played. The world of chess at the top is a much better place now than what it used to be in the 1990s. There are no more major conflicts and everything goes according to rules and schedule. I would say no one takes his moves back, figuratively and literally.
I am six years younger but somehow it feels we belong to the same generation who made their way among the elites in the 1990s. According to Hindu mythology, the world exists as long as Shiva is dancing. As a member of the same generation, I would like to wish Anand best of luck, performing his unique dance!
YEAR WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2015
The Times of India, May 9, 2015
Many chess players will give their left hand to be able to play like 45-year-old Vishy Anand of 2014.And we are talking about a player who is not at his peak. Despite losing the World crown, Anand achieved a lot -the Candidates title, Bilbao Masters, London Classicand Zurich Challenge -last year. Yes,Anand lost to Magnus Carlsen for the second time in a World title match last year but he still remains the frontrunner to challenge the Norwegian in 2016. His love for the game, thirst for hard work, and above all, his dignity, remain undiminished. Whether a minor planet is named after him or not, Anand is a player from a different planet.
2017
Wins World Rapid title, Riyadh
Prasad RS, December 30, 2017: The Times of India
TITLE FACTFILE
• Anand won the title at the age of 48, beating Vassily Ivanchuk’s record of winning it at 47
• The top-10 players among the world’s top 15 (according to rapid rating) were in action
• Anand was seeded 12th at Elo 2758 while his rating performance was 2874
• The prize money of $450,000 was shared by Anand, Fedoseev and Nepomniachtchi who had the same number of points (10.5)
• It is Anand’s first World Rapid title conducted by FIDE. Before 2012, FIDE used to approve private tournaments with world title. Anand had won one such title in France in 2003
• In his last five games, Anand had four draws and a win. He remained undefeated in the meet
• The format was 15 rounds over three days. Time control was 15 minutes per player per game plus 10 seconds increment from first move
2019
Anand finishes second in Paris
August 3, 2019: The Times of India
Prasad RS
Chennai:
Viswanathan Anand has faced testing times in recent months — ending jointseventh in a field of 10 at the Altibox chess tournament at Norway in June, and subsequently finishing jointninth at the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) in Croatia. But the five-time world champion showed his mettle at the Grand Chess Tour in Paris — played in the rapid and blitz categories — where he totaled 20.5 points to finish second behind Frenchman Maxime Vachier Lagrave (21).
In the rapid category, Anand was joint-second with 10 points after 9 rounds. He followed that with an even better show in the blitz category — accruing 10.5 points from 18 rounds — to end joint-first.
