Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand (born December 11, 1969 in Chennai [then called Madras], India) is an Indian chess grandmaster. In the April 2006 FIDE Elo rating list, Anand has a rating of 2803, making him the number two in the world (after Veselin Topalov), and one of only four players in history to break the 2800 mark on the Elo rating system. Anand has been among the top three ranked players in classical time control chess in the world continuously since 1994 and the best rapid chess player in the world over much of that period.

"Vishy", as he is sometimes called, burst upon the upper echelons of the chess scene in the early 1990s, winning such tournaments as Reggio Emilia 1991 (ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov). Playing at such a high level did not slow him down either, and he continued to play games at blitz speed. In 1991, he lost in a tie-breaker to Anatoly Karpov in the quarter finals of the FIDE World Chess Championship Cycle.

Anand qualified for the Professional Chess Association World Chess Championship final by winning the candidates matches against Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky. In 1995, he played a title match against Garry Kasparov in New York City's World Trade Center. After an opening run of eight draws (a record for the opening of a world championship match), Anand won game nine using a splendid sacrifice on the queen side, but then lost four of the next five. He lost the match 10.5 - 7.5.