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Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1988 and was world champion from 2007 to 2013. He has won the title every way it has been decided: in a knockout, in a tournament and in matches. He is known for playing fast, and as a young player he was called “the Lightning Kid”.

  • BornDecember 11, 1969, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • CountryIndia
  • World champion2007–2013
    FIDE world champion 2000–2002
  • In the line of championsNo. 15 of 18
  • Highest rating2817 (March 2011)
    FIDE's official lists (from July 1971)

The road to the title

Anand grew up in Chennai, then called Madras, and in 1988 became India's first grandmaster. In 1995 he challenged Garry Kasparov in New York but lost. In 2000 he won FIDE's knockout championship, with the final in Tehran, and became FIDE world champion. In 2007 he won the championship tournament in Mexico City and became world champion.

The title matches

Anand's points come first, then wins (+), losses (−) and draws (=) in the classical games. A rapid tiebreak is given separately.
YearAgainstResultWhere
1995Garry Kasparov7½–10½ (+1 −4 =13)
Lost · the classical title		New York
1998Anatoly Karpov3–3 (+2 −2 =2), tiebreak 0–2
Lost · FIDE's title		Lausanne
2000Alexei Shirov, in the final3½–½
Won the title · FIDE's knockout		New Delhi and Tehran
2007Tournament of eight players9 of 14
Won the title · title tournament		Mexico City
2008Vladimir Kramnik6½–4½ (+3 −1 =7)
Kept the title		Bonn
2010Veselin Topalov6½–5½ (+3 −2 =7)
Kept the title		Sofia
2012Boris Gelfand6–6 (+1 −1 =10), tiebreak 2½–1½
Kept the title		Moscow
2013Magnus Carlsen3½–6½ (+0 −3 =7)
Lost the title		Chennai
2014Magnus Carlsen4½–6½ (+1 −3 =7)
Lost		Sochi

How he plays

Anand plays fast, often much faster than his opponents, and as a young player that earned him the name “the Lightning Kid”. He has also been called the Tiger of Madras. For a long time he was a natural attacker, and over the years his play grew calmer. He sees long sequences of moves quickly and is a very strong tactician.

The journey through the ash cloud

In the spring of 2010 Anand was due to defend his title against Veselin Topalov in Sofia. Then the ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland grounded flights across Europe, and Anand was stuck in Frankfurt. He made it to Sofia by road, a journey of about 40 hours. He still won the match, 6½–5½.

Afterward

In 2013 Anand lost the title to Magnus Carlsen in his home city of Chennai. The following year he won the Candidates tournament and got a second match, but Carlsen won again. In 2017 Anand became world rapid champion, aged 48.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Viswanathan Anand
  • Store norske leksikon: Viswanathan Anand
  • Chess.com: Viswanathan Anand
  • ChessBase: Before he became world champion: Vishy Anand, the speed demon
  • ChessBase: A volcanic trip (April 2010)
  • FIDE: Anand's rating history
  • OlimpBase and PGN Mentor: the title matches' games 1995–2014

The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given. The match results are also checked against the games themselves.

Updated November 8, 2026