A “God of Chess,” Anand is admired and respected across India and the world.
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Viswanathan Anand, fondly called Vishy in the international chess circuit, is definitely a great chess player. He is the first Indian Grandmaster and became a five-time World Chess Champion. He also became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list (Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, and Garry Kasparov are the other four) and has been awarded the second, third, and fourth highest Indian civilian awards, namely, the Padmavibhushan, the Padmabhushan, and the Padmashri.
Courtesy Chess24.com
Born on the 11th December 1969 and became Grandmaster at the age of 18. Now, he is the greatest chess representative in India and globally, and current GMs consider him a legend, a ‘God of Chess.’
Present-day world champion, Magnus Carlsen, won the title from Vishy in 2013. Though there was a buzz about Vishy’s retirement, the rightly nicknamed ‘Lightning Kid’ came back strong, winning the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2017 at 48 years of age.
GM Hikaru Nakamura recounted recently that Anand has paved the way for more than 60 GMs from India. Following in Vishy’s footsteps are other top-rated GMs, including Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Harikrishna Pentala, Adhiban Bhaskaran, and Koneru Humpy. In addition, he helped players, such as Nihal Sarin, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Aryan Chopra, and Gukesh D, get their necessary final polish to play at the top level. And just as importantly, Vishy has passed on his love of chess to youngsters across the country and region.
As he turns the page on another year of his life, Vishy is currently ranked #16 in the world. Happy 51st, Vishwanathan Anand!
History of Chess in India began before 6th Century BC. The early name of Chess was Chaturanga. From early era, Chess has a huge evolution. Earlier, it was concentrated among the kings and royal people of different dynasties. Chess, which was named as Chaturanga became popular in Gupta era. There, its early form in the 6th century was four divisions of the military: infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariot.
https://www.indianetzone.com/78/history_chess_india.htm