Chess Legends
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Viswanathan Anand: The Tiger Who Ignited India's Chess Revolution
The inspiring journey of India's first Grandmaster—from a curious six-year-old in Chennai to the five-time World Champion who paved the way for Gukesh's historic triumph
The Boy Who Fell in Love with 64 Squares
Picture this: A five-year-old boy in Chennai, 1975, watching his mother play chess at home. Intrigued by the pieces dancing across the board, little Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand asked, "Amma, can you teach me?" That simple question, asked on December 11, 1969, would change Indian chess forever.
His mother, Susheela Viswanathan, who worked at the Reserve Bank of India, didn't just teach him the moves—she sparked a revolution. Unlike the intense, pressure-filled training of modern prodigies, Susheela's approach was gentle and encouraging. "I don't want to say that I was behind his achievement," she once said humbly. "A mother has to be by the side of the child taking baby steps in any field. In my case, it happened to be chess".
Within months, the boy who could barely reach the board was making moves at lightning speed. By age 14, he crushed the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a perfect 9/9 score. Coaches watched in amazement as this teenager calculated variations faster than adults could think. They started calling him "The Lightning Kid"—a nickname that would stick for life.
The Train Journey That Defined a Champion
Here's a story Vishy loves telling: As a young boy traveling to tournaments, a fellow passenger on the train watched him play and remarked sarcastically, "You can't make a living playing chess unless you cheat!"
Instead of getting discouraged, young Anand just smiled. That gentle humor and unshakeable confidence? It became his trademark. Years later, as a five-time World Champion, he'd recall that moment with a laugh—proof that champions are born not from arrogance, but from quiet belief.
Another legendary train story: During the 1983 National Team Chess Championship at IIT Mumbai, 13-year-old Anand was running a high fever. Wrapped in woolens on a sweltering May afternoon, he sat down opposite India's first International Master, Manuel Aaron. His mother Susheela sat beside him, taking care of everything so he could focus on the board. Despite the fever, Anand played with his characteristic lightning speed and defeated the legend.
Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, who rushed to witness the game, recalled: "I was told by some players that a teen from Madras Colts was about to cause an upset. I found a young boy wrapped in woolens making lightning-quick moves, his mother sitting beside him. He won the game soon enough". That day, everyone knew: India had found its champion.
The "Lightning Kid" Becomes a Legend
Five World Championships, Five Different Stories
Anand's path to the World Championship wasn't a straight line—it was an epic saga spanning formats, rivalries, and reinventions:
1. 2000 - FIDE World Championship: Won in a knockout format, showcasing his rapid-fire brilliance.
2. 2007 - Unified World Champion: Tournament victory that made him undisputed king.
3. 2008 - Defeated Kramnik: Defended against the man who had beaten Kasparov.
4. 2010 - Defeated Topalov: A brutal battle that tested every ounce of his resilience.
5. 2012 - Defeated Gelfand: Proved at 42 that age is just a number.
What's remarkable? Anand is the only player in chess history to win the World Championship in three different formats—knockout, tournament, and match play. Not even Magnus Carlsen, who ended Anand's reign in 2013, achieved that feat.
The Records That Define Greatness
2800+ Club: Fourth player ever to break the sacred 2800 Elo barrier (2006)
World #1: Held the top spot for 21 months—6th longest in history
World Rapid Champion: 2003, 2017 (winning at age 48!)
4,179 career games: 36% wins, 50% draws, 14% losses—consistency personified
Six Chess Oscars: The player of the year award.
Explore more stories of chess greatness on ShareChess.com — where we celebrate not just champions, but journeys: from first moves to legacy-making moments.
What happened next shocked the Norwegian prodigy.
"As soon as that training camp started, it's like something just switched on," Magnus recalled years later. "We played a bunch of training games and from being this guy who seemed completely disinterested... all of a sudden, like he was crushing me. He had a massive plus score in our games".
Magnus continued: "It's only when you study, like you talk to them, that you understand how good they really are and how much they understand".
The student had learned a humbling lesson: There's champion level, and then there's Anand level.
The Changing of the Guard (2013)
Five years later, the student was ready to dethrone the master. In Chennai, 2013, Magnus Carlsen challenged Anand for the World Championship title. The result was decisive—Magnus won convincingly.
Anand later admitted: "I was in a chess crisis from roughly the end of 2010 until after the match in 2013. I was really struggling with my game... This frustration climaxed in a pretty pathetic defeat in Chennai".
But here's what separates great champions from good ones: Anand came back.
He won the 2014 Candidates Tournament, earning a rematch with Magnus. Though he lost again, Anand played far better: "A lot of the games were at least two-way battles that could have gone either way before they went in his favour".
The Endgame for the Ages (2023)
Fast forward to 2023's Global Chess League. The two five-time World Champions—Anand (53) and Carlsen (32)—sat across from each other once more. What followed was described as "one of the greatest endgames ever played".
Magnus sacrificed material, Anand defended brilliantly, and the position spiraled into mind-bending complexity involving knight versus bishop, underpromotion possibilities, stalemate threats, and domination themes. Magnus eventually won, but the game showcased something beautiful: two generations of greatness, still pushing each other to sublime heights.
The Family Behind the Fighter
The Mother Who Made It Possible
Susheela Viswanathan wasn't just Anand's first chess teacher—she was his anchor, his confidence, and his moral compass. At tournaments, she would sit beside young Vishy, making sure he only had to think about chess while she handled everything else.
Her advice shaped not just his game, but his character: "However big and important you are, you should not hurt anybody with your words or actions". This philosophy made Anand perhaps the most beloved champion in chess history—no controversies, no arrogance, just pure class.
When Susheela passed away in 2015 at age 79, the chess world mourned. Vishy had lost not just his mother, but his first guru.
The Playing Style: Speed, Flexibility, and Genius
What Made Anand Different?
Grandmaster David Howell perfectly captured Anand's style: "He creates positions that don't make any sense, but navigates in them quicker and better than anyone else".
Unlike Ding Liren's classical positional style or Gukesh's aggressive calculation, Anand was the ultimate universal player. He could play sharp tactical battles like Tal, grind endgames like Karpov, or launch kingside attacks like Kasparov—whatever the position demanded.
Ben Finegold's description: "He would create a position that doesn't make any sense, but navigate in it quicker and better".
The Rapid Revolution
Anand was once called "the poster boy for rapid chess" and the greatest rapid player of his generation. His ability to play brilliant moves at blinding speed revolutionized how chess was understood. In the Melody Amber rapid tournament 2007, he scored 8.5/11 without losing a single game—a performance rating of 2939.
Even at age 48, he won the World Rapid Championship in 2017, proving the Lightning Kid still had electricity in his veins.
The Legacy: From One Tiger to a Nation of Lions
The "Vishy Effect"
Before Anand: India had zero Grandmasters.
After Anand: India has 85+ Grandmasters and counting.
The Gracious Champion
After losing to Magnus in Chennai 2013, Anand could have been bitter. Instead, he showed pure class, congratulating his successor with genuine warmth. That's the Anand way—lose with dignity, win with humility.
The Speed Demon
In most of Anand's tournament games, he had more time left than his opponent at the end. While others scrambled in time trouble, Vishy would be sitting comfortably, having used his time efficiently through lightning-fast calculation.
The Awards Collector
First ever Khel Ratna Award recipient (1991-92)—India's highest sporting honor
Padma Vibhushan (2007)—First sportsperson to receive India's second-highest civilian award
Padma Bhushan (2000)
Padma Shri (1988)
No Indian athlete had received such honors before him. He opened doors not just for chess players, but for all sportspersons.
Why Anand Will Forever Inspire
Vishy Anand proved that you don't need to be from Russia, born into a chess culture, or have access to supercomputers to become World Champion. All you need is passion, persistence, and a mother who believes in you.
His legacy isn't just the five world titles or the records—it's the million young Indians who picked up chess pieces because they saw someone who looked like them conquering the world.
When Gukesh lifted the World Championship trophy in December 2024, he became the youngest champion ever. But he also became proof that Anand's dream—an India filled with chess champions—had become reality.
From Ding Liren's philosophical resilience to Magnus Carlsen's universal dominance to Gukesh's fearless calculation—all these modern legends play in the shadow of the Tiger of Madras, the man who showed the world that Indian chess wasn't coming. It had arrived.
And it all started with a five-year-old boy asking his mother, "Amma, can you teach me?"
Explore more chess legends on ShareChess.com:
Gukesh Dommaraju: From Chennai Prodigy to Youngest World Champion - The boy inspired by Vishy who rewrote history
Ding Liren: The Philosophical Warrior - China's first world champion's journey through light and darkness
Magnus Carlsen: The King Who Changed Everything - The Norwegian genius who learned from Anand before surpassing him
Each legend connected, each story inspiring the next. That's the beautiful continuity of chess greatness.
