Anand's joyful journey to the pinnacle

His first world title gained Viswanathan Anand an entry into the history books and the second one fetched him the tag of the undisputed champion. A third crown silenced the critics while his fourth reinforced his supremacy. The Indian maestro’s fifth title, that arrived last year, was an apt present for his son.

Now, the five-time world champion is gunning for a sixth title which would firmly anchor him in the record books along with Emanuel Laskar, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov for maximum number of world titles.

This is also the first time that the Indian legend will be showcasing his special skills in his hometown at the highest level of the game. Anand had begun his journey to the pinnacle by winning his very first Candidates Match against Alexei Dreev at Chennai in 1991.

Even as FIDE fiddled with the World Championship format time and again, it was Anand who lent credibility to it by becoming the only player in the history of the game to win the title in all three formats — knock-out, tournament and match formats.

Anand has refused to show preference for any particular format, saying, “Match format is fine but not the only one. In fact, I like all of them. I have nothing against any format. I felt people thought winning the title in a tournament was a big joke, but it is not easy. You have to understand that when it is a World Championship people tend to prepare months in advance. I mean, Linares will be Linares but when you add the tag of a World title to the tournament, it rises by several notches.”

Many might marvel at the sheer number of Anand’s titles but none will agonise over the stumbles and fumbles in his earlier attempts to reach the summit. The first blow was in the quarterfinals of the Candidates’ where he lost to Karpov. An even bigger setback came when he choked on the overwhelming lead over Gata Kamsky in 1994-95 to crash out in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Championship.

However he demolished Kamsky in the semifinals and reached the finals of the rival PCA World Championship in 1995 where the first eight games resulted in draws against Garry Kasparov. Anand’s stunning victory in the ninth game shocked everyone but Kasparov hit back in the very next game and Anand ended up losing four out of the remaining five games. The title once again proved elusive as Anand lost 7.5-10.5.

Undeterred, Anand played in the knock-out format at the Netherlands in 1998 and with a scintillating display, once again reached the finals after a gruelling seven rounds. A fresh Anatoly Karpov, who was directly seeded to the finals, could not seal the match under regular time control and the score stood 3-3. Karpov then went on to win in the Rapid tie-break 2-0. A disillusioned Anand commented he was handed over like a corpse to Karpov in the finals.

Many experts then dismissed Anand as world champion material but the ‘Tiger of Chennai’, as he is dubbed, started roaring in his home country in his inimitable style. He once again sliced though the opposition with ease, survived a hiccup against reigning champion Alexander Khalifman and demolished Alexei Shirov 3.5-0.5 in the shortest final in the history of the game to win his first title, in the year 2000. Anand was the World Champion but not the undisputed one — the shadow of the Braingames World Champion Vladimir Kramnik lurked nearby.

Anand then failed to defend his title next year at Moscow where he lost to Vassily Ivanchuk in the semifinals. Thereafter some debatable and questionable attempts by FIDE to reunite the chess world virtually kept Anand from having a direct go at the title.

When the tournament format was brought back in 2005, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria sprinted at furious pace from the beginning and Anand had to stay content with a joint second place. He, however did not lose focus and a spectacular unbeaten display in the tournament format brought him his second title at Mexico in 2007 — an undisputed one at that!

The Match format was once again in place in 2008 at Bonn. Anand was the defending Champion and Kramnik, dubbed as a purist’s delight, was the Challenger. It was a high intensity contest as Anand needed to cement his place in history as a Classical champion in match format. He was in sparkling form and Kramnik was virtually rendered moveless. The 6.5-4.5 victory was one of the most delightful successes of Anand’s career.

Anand then went on to tame Topalov in his own den in 2010, travelling through four countries in a car to reach the venue, Sofia, after volcanic ash had disrupted flight services in Europe. The match was decided in the 12th and last game with a victory by Anand breaking the 5.5-5.5 deadlock after 11 games.

The match against Boris Gelfand last year was a rather sedate affair where short draws drew the ire of many. After a 6-6 tie, the match was decided in the tie-break with Anand prevailing 2.5-1.5. Incidentally, Anand recorded the shortest win in the history of the World Championships, a 17-move miniature in the eighth game.

Even as Anand prepares for the clash against Carlsen, who is exactly half his age, many have questioned his motivation level. The Indian revealed his hunger by quipping, “I would even be ready to travel to the Moon, if need be, to play the match.”