Youth icon of the Year 2005 Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan
Originally uploaded by Jeevan_.

After ruling the chess world for nearly 20 years now, Viswanathan Anand is rightly regarded as one of the greats of the 64-squares game.

Viswanathan Anand who turned 35 in December 2004, has throughout his career, for almost 20 years now, been way ahead of his times and peers. One of the best known non-Russian and Asian chess players, Anand has often been given sobriquets like “Lightning Kid” and "Vishy, the Tiger from Madras". Born on December 11, 1969, he picked his early lessons in chess, at the age of six from his mother, Susila Viswanathan.

By 14 he was the “Boy Wonder” in Indian chess and his assets, lightning speed, ability to see and read the game far ahead besides on-board intuition saw him emerge as the Youngest Indian National Champion at age of 16.

In 1987 he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Championship at Baguio City in the Philippines. The same year he became the first Indian to earn the coveted Grandmaster title.

Into 2005, the feelings and euphoria of 2004 continued as Anand was adjudged winner of the Chess Oscar for 2004, the results of which became known only in 2005. Anand finished way ahead of his arch-rival Garry Kasparov for the second straight year. It was Anand’s fourth Chess Oscar and he is the first non-Russian to win it four times.

Anand has received many awards.
·Arjuna award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in 1985
·Padmashree, National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1987
·Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
·British Chess Federation 'Book of the Year' Award in 1998 for his book My Best Games of Chess
·Chess Oscar (1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004)

Best of luck Viswanathan