This episode was a struggle to cram all of Viswanathan Anand’s accomplishments into a highlight script! The Indian Grandmaster has been one of the most dominant and successful players in the game for over almost 4 decades. He was born on December 11, 1969, and moved to Chennai, India, and began playing chess at the age of six from his mother who was a chess aficionado.

Anand’s rise in the chess world was very quick. He won the sub-junior championship with a perfect 9/9 score in 1983 at the age of 14. 

The next year, he won the Asian Junior Championship picking up his International Master norm in the process. 

In 1985 he became the youngest Indian player to earn his International Master title at the age of 15.

The next year, he won his first of 3 Indian Chess Championships in a row at age 16, 17, and 18.

In 1988, when he was 18, he became India’s first Grandmaster at the Shakti Finance International tournament in Kovai, India. 

In 1993, he played in his first of 10 World Championship cycles with varying levels of success. 

In 1995, he faced Garry Kasparov for the World Championship losing 10.5 to 7.5. 

In 1998, the format was changed to a 100 person knockout tournament where Karpov beat Anand in the finals 5 to 3.  

In 2000, Anand won the 100 person knock out tournament against Shirov 3.5 to 0.5. 

In 2005, the format was changed to be a round robin tournament where Anand tied for 2nd with Svidler behind Topalov who won it. 

In 2007, Anand won the round robin World Championship a point ahead of the field. 

Starting in 2008, the format was changed to a 12 game match. 

• Anand defeated Kramnik 6.5 to 4.5.
• In 2010, Anand defended his title against Topalov 6.5 to 5.5.
• In 2012, Anand defended his title against Boris Gelfand 8.5 to 7.5.

In 2013, Anand was dethroned by Magnus Carlsen losing 6.5 to 3.5 in 10 games. 

In his last World Championship appearance in 2014, Anand fought through the Qualification cycles to rematch Carlsen but lost 6.5 to 4.5.

Anand’s contributions to the game go well beyond the chess board as well. He has been awarded: 

• An Order for Friendship from Russia
• Indian Sportsman of the Year, Indian of the Year, Excellence in Chess Award, Best Sportsperson, the Chess Oscar 6 different times, and the National Citizens Award
• In India, he has received a host of National Honors including the- Arjuna Award, Padma Shri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan award
• He even has a planet named after him - Planet 4538 Vishyanand

In an effort to give back to his home country, he has been on the Olympic Gold Quest Board to support India’s elite sportspersons. With his help and training, after he became the first Indian Grandmaster, India now has 84 Grandmasters, 10 of the top 100 Women players are Indian and 9 of the top 100 Open Global players are Indian (including 3 of the top 15).

This week, we are going to 2013 at Wilk aan Zee Group A.

Levon Aronian versus Viswanathan Anand. 

Now if we’re ready, let’s begin. 

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. a3 Rc8 12. Ng5 c5 13. Nxh7 Ng4 14. f4 cxd4 15. exd4 Bc5 16. Be2 Nde5 17. Bxg4 Bxd4+ 18. Kh1 Nxg4 19. Nxf8 f5 20. Ng6 Qf6 21. h3 Qxg6 22. Qe2 Qh5 23. Qd3 Be3 0-1

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1704763

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/ 

http://cassidynoble.com/