Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a four-time undisputed World Chess Champion, a FIDE World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, and a World Blitz Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988 and became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list In April 2006. He occupied the number-one position for 21 months, the sixth-longest period on record, and has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time.

Anand defeated Alexei Shirov in a six-game match to win the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship, a title he held until 2002. He became the undisputed world champion by winning the 2007 World Championship tournament, and defended his title in matchplay against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010, and Boris Gelfand in 2012. In 2013, he lost the title to challenger Magnus Carlsen, and he lost a rematch to Carlsen in 2014 after winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament.

Known for his rapid playing speed as a child, Anand earned the sobriquet "Lightning Kid" during his early career in the 1980s. He won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, the Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship, 11 times, and the Amber chess tournament rapid event 9 times. Thus, Anand is often considered the greatest rapid chess player of all time. He also won the World Blitz Chess Cup in 2000, the Chess World Cup in 2000 and 2002, and numerous other top-level events.

Anand was the first recipient of the Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honour. In 2007, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award. As a chess administrator, he was the elected deputy president of FIDE in August 2022, and briefly served as acting president of FIDE after Arkady Dvorkovich was added on the international sanctions list against Russia in July 2026. After the conclusion of the 2026 FIDE presidential election, Anand remained as deputy president after Timur Turlov was elected as the new president of FIDE. He has played a significant role in popularizing chess in India.