Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess master who won the International Chess Federation World Championship in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. Anand learned to play chess from his mother when he was 6 years old. By the time he was 14, Anand had won the Indian National SubJunior Championship with a perfect score of nine wins in nine games. At age 15 he became the youngest Indian to earn the international master title. The following year, he won the first of three consecutive national championships. At age 17 Anand became the first Asian to win a world chess title when he won the 1987 FIDE World Junior Championship, which is open to players who have not reached their 20th birthday by January 1 of the tournament year. Anand followed up that victory by earning the international grandmaster title in 1988. In 1991 Anand won his first major international chess tournament, finishing ahead of world champion Garry Kasparov and former world champion Anatoly Karpov. For the first time since the American Bobby Fischer abandoned the title in 1975, a nonRussian had emerged as a favorite to become world chess champion.
Anand, who first earned the nickname of the “Lightning Kid” in India, was known for quick tactical calculations, which he displayed by winning numerous “speed chess” titles.
Viswanathan Anand is being interviewed by Hari Raghavan for ATN's popular Television series ‘THE ACHIEVERS”

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