Magnus CarlsenFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search This article is about the Norwegian chess player. For people with a similar name, see Magnus Carlsson (disambiguation).

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen, 2008

Full name Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen

Country Norway

Born30 November 1990 (age 19)

Tønsberg, Norway

Title Grandmaster

FIDE rating2826

(No. 1 in the September 2010 FIDE World Rankings)

Peak rating 2826 (July 2010)

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy currently ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list. He has achieved the second highest ever rating exceeded only by Garry Kasparov.[1][2]

On 26 April 2004 Carlsen became a Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 148 days, making him the third-youngest Grandmaster in history. On 1 January 2010 the new FIDE rating list was published, and at the age of 19 years, 32 days he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world number one, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik.[3] Carlsen is also the 2009 World blitz chess champion.

His performance at the September–October 2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament has been described as one of the greatest in history[4] and lifted him to an Elo rating of 2801, making him the fifth player to achieve a rating over 2800 – and aged 18 years 10 months at the time, by far the youngest to do so.

Based on his rating, Carlsen has qualified for the Candidates Tournament which will determine the challenger to face World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2012.

Contents

[hide] 1 Childhood 2 Chess career

o 2.1 2004

o 2.2 2005

o 2.3 2006

o 2.4 2007

o 2.5 2008

o 2.6 2009

o 2.7 2010

3 Game style

4 Rating

o 4.1 Standing on each top 100 FIDE list

5 Books and films

6 References

7 External links

[edit] Childhood

Born in Tønsberg, Vestfold, Carlsen currently lives in Lommedalen, Bærum, near Norway's capital, Oslo. He played his first chess tournament at the age of eight and was later coached at a Norwegian high school (for athletes) by the country's top player, Grandmaster (GM) Simen Agdestein. Agdestein introduced his civil worker Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen, currently an International Master, to Carlsen, and they had one training session every week, along with one of Carlsen's close friends. Becoming an International Master, Carlsen was given a year off from elementary school to participate in international chess tournaments during the fall season of 2003. In that same year, he finished third in the European Under-12 Boys Championship.

[edit] Chess career

[edit] 2004

Carlsen playing simultaneous chess in Molde in July 2004

Carlsen was brought to the attention of the international chess world after his victory in the C group at the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He had a score of 10½/13, losing just one game (against the highest rated player of the C group, Dusko Pavasovic).[5] As a result of the victory, he took his first Grandmaster norm and achieved a performance rating of 2702. Particularly notable was his win over Sipke Ernst in the penultimate round, when Carlsen sacrificed material to mate him in just 29 moves.[6] Carlsen won the Audience Prize for that game, as the best game of the round (including the games played in the A and B groups). The first 23 moves in that game had already been played in another game Almagro Llanas-Gustafsson, Madrid 2003 (which ended in a draw), but Carlsen's over-the-board novelty immediately led to a winning position. Carlsen's victory in the C group qualified him to play in the B group in 2005, and it also led Lubomir Kavalek, writing for the Washington Post, to give him the title "Mozart of chess". Agdestein, who was once a young GM at 18, said in an interview that Carlsen was a significantly better player than he was himself at the same age. He also said that Carlsen had an excellent memory and played an unusually wide range of different openings. Carlsen's prowess caught the attention of Microsoft, who became his sponsor.[7]

Carlsen obtained his second GM norm in the Moscow Aeroflot Open in February 2004. In a blitz chess tournament in Reykjavík, Iceland, Carlsen defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov on 17 March 2004. The blitz tournament was a preliminary event leading up to a rapid knockout tournament beginning the next day, where Carlsen achieved one draw against Garry Kasparov, who was then the top-rated player in the world, before losing to Kasparov after 32 moves of the second game, thus being knocked out of the tournament.[8]

In the sixth Dubai Open Chess Championship, held 18–28 April 2004, Carlsen obtained his third Grandmaster norm (enough for getting the GM title), after getting four wins and four draws before the last game was to be played. As a result of this he was at the time the world's youngest Grandmaster and the second youngest person ever to hold GM status, after Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine who attained the feat at 12 years and 7 months of age in 2002.[9]

Carlsen was the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004, but was knocked out in the first round on tie breaks by Levon Aronian.

In July 2004, Carlsen and Berge Østenstad (then the reigning Norwegian champion) tied for first in the Norwegian Chess Championship, each scoring seven out of nine possible points. A two-game match between them was arranged to decide the title. Both games were drawn, which left Østenstad the champion because he had superior tiebreaks in the tournament.

[edit] 2005

In Smartfish Chess Masters at the Drammen chess festival 2004–05 (Norway) Carlsen defeated Alexei Shirov, ranked number 10[10] in the world.[11] In June 2005 in the Ciudad de Leon rapid chess tournament Carlsen played a four-game semi-final against Viswanathan Anand, who was ranked second in the world at the time. Magnus lost 3–1. Carlsen was invited to the tournament as the most promising young chess player in 2005.

In the 2005 Norwegian Chess Championship, Carlsen again finished in a shared first place, this time with his mentor Simen Agdestein. A playoff between them was arranged between 7 November and 10 November. This time Carlsen had the better tiebreaks, but the rule giving the player with better tiebreaks scores the title in the event of a 1–1 draw had been revoked previously. The match was closely fought, Agdestein won the first game, Carlsen won the second, so the match went into a phase of two and two rapid games until there was a winner. Carlsen won the first rapid game, Agdestein the second. Then followed a series of three draws until Agdestein won the championship title with a victory in the sixth rapid game.

At the end of 2005 he participated at the World Chess Cup 2005 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In the knock-out tournament, Carlsen upset the 44th-ranked Georgian Zurab Azmaiparashvili in round one, winning 2–0 at rapid chess after a 1–1 tie in the normal length games, and proceeded to beat Tajik Farrukh Amonatov and Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov (also after rapid chess) to reach the round of 16. There he lost 1½–2½ to Evgeny Bareev, which prevented him from finishing in the top eight. He then won against Joël Lautier 1½–½ and Vladimir Malakhov 3½–2½ securing him at least a tenth place and therefore a spot in the Candidate Matches. Carlsen became the youngest player to be an official World Championship Candidate.

In October 2005 he took first place at the Arnold Eikrem Memorial in Gausdal with eight out of nine points and a performance rating of 2792 at the age of 14.[12]

[edit] 2006

In the January 2006 fide list, at the age of 15 years and 31 days, he officially attained 2625 elo rating, which made Carlsen the youngest person to break the 2600 elo barrier. In 2008, Wesley So broke that record. Carlsen qualified for a place in the Corus B group from his 2005 first place in Corus group C. His shared first with Motylev with 9/13 (+6 -1 =6) qualified him to play in the Corus A group in 2007.

In the 2006 Norwegian Chess Championship, Carlsen was close to winning outright, but a last round loss to Berge Østenstad again tied him for first place with Agdestein. The last-round loss deprived Magnus of beating Agdestein's record of becoming the youngest Norwegian champion ever. Nonetheless, in the play-off 19–21 November Carlsen won 3–1. After two draws in the initial full time games, Magnus won both rapid games in round two, securing his first Norwegian championship.

Magnus won the 2006 Glitnir Blitz Tournament[13] in Iceland. He won 2–0 over Viswanathan Anand (2003 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion, 2004 Amber Rapid Chess Champion, 2007 FIDE Classical World Champion) in the semi finals. Carlsen also won 2–0 in the finals.[14]

Magnus scored 6/8 in the 37th Chess Olympiad in 2006 against opponents averaging 2627 Elo, gaining 18 Elo (a rating performance of 2820 points). One of his notable wins was against top English grandmaster Michael Adams.[15]

In the Midnight Sun Chess Tournament, Carlsen had some misses and came in second, beaten by Sergei Shipov (FIDE-Elo: 2576).

In the 2006 Biel grandmaster tournament he achieved second place, after having beaten the eventual winner Alexander Morozevich twice (once with each color).

In the NH Chess Tournament held in Amsterdam in August 2006, Carlsen participated in an 'Experience' v 'Rising Stars' Scheveningen team match. The 'Rising Stars' won the match 22–28 with Carlsen achieving the best individual score for the youngsters, 6½/10 and a 2700 Elo performance, thus winning the right to participate in the 2007 Melody Amber tournament.[16]

In the World Blitz Championship at Rishon LeZion, Israel in September 2006, he was number 8 of 16 participants with 7½/15 points.

In the rapid chess tournament Rencontres nationales et internationales d'échecs in Cap d'Agde, France he got to the semifinal, losing to Sergey Karjakin.

Carlsen achieved a shared eighth place of 10 participants in the Mikhail Tal Memorial in Moscow with two losses and seven draws. In the associated blitz tournament Tal Blitz Cup he received 17½/34 points and ninth place in a group of 18 participants.

[edit] 2007

In the 2007 Corus chess tournament Carlsen, playing in group A for the first time, had to settle for the last place after nine draws and four losses, scoring 4½ points in 13 rounds.

Magnus Carlsen vs. Levon Aronian at Linares 2007

In the prestigious Linares chess tournament Carlsen met the following top-rated players: Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian, Peter Leko, and Vassily Ivanchuk (replacing Teimour Radjabov). With the significantly lowest Elo rating, he achieved a second place (on tiebreaks) with 7½ points after four wins, seven draws and three losses, and an Elo performance of 2778.

In March 2007, Carlsen played for the first time in the Melody Amber blind and rapid chess tournament in Monte Carlo. In the 11 rounds he achieved eight draws and three losses in the blindfold, and three wins, seven draws and one loss in the rapid part. This resulted in a shared ninth place in the blindfold, shared second place in the rapid (beaten only by Anand), and an eighth place in the overall tournament.

In May–June 2007, he participated in the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. He was paired with the top seed Levon Aronian. The six-game match was drawn (two wins, two draws, and two losses), with Carlsen coming from behind twice. The four-game rapid playoff was drawn as well (one win, two draws, and one loss), with Carlsen winning the last game to stay in the match. Finally, Aronian won both tiebreaker (blitz) games, to eliminate Carlsen from the Championship.

In the July 2007 fide list, at the age of 16 years and 7 months, he officially attained 2710 Elo rating, which made Carlsen the youngest person to break the 2700 Elo barrier. As of August 2010, this record has not been broken.

In July–August 2007, he won the International Chess Festival Biel Grandmaster Tournament 2007, with a +2 record (an Elo performance of 2753). His score was equalled by Alexander Onischuk and by the tie-breaker rule of the tournament, they played a tie-breaker match to determine the winner. After drawing two rapid and two blitz games, Carlsen won the armageddon game. He became the youngest person ever to win a category 18 tournament.

Immediately after the Biel tournament, Carlsen entered the open Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø, but his +5=4 and fourth place result was somewhat disappointing. In the first round, Carlsen surprisingly conceded a draw to his classmate Brede Hagen (rated 2034)[17] after having a lost position at one point.[18] A game which attracted some attention was his sixth round win over his own father, Henrik Carlsen.[19]

In December 2007, he reached the semi-final round of the World Chess Cup 2007, after defeating Michael Adams in the round of 16, and Ivan Cheparinov in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final, he was eliminated by the eventual winner Gata Kamsky, ½:1½.

[edit] 2008

Carlsen in Bilbao, 2008

Playing for the second time in the top group A of the Corus chess tournament, Carlsen showed a big improvement over his 2007 performance. His final score was eight points in 13 rounds, an Elo performance of 2830. Carlsen scored five wins (including as Black against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik), two losses and six draws. He shared first place with Levon Aronian, becoming the youngest person ever to win a category 20 tournament.

At the 2008 Linares chess tournament, Carlsen had another 2800+ Elo performance, scoring eight out of fourteen (five wins, three losses and six draws). He finished in sole second place, ½ point behind the winner, world champion Viswanathan Anand.

In March 2008, Carlsen played for the second time in the Melody Amber blind and rapid chess tournament, which was held in Nice for the first time. In the 11 rounds he achieved four wins, four draws and two losses in the blindfold, and three wins, six draws and two losses in the rapid part. This resulted in a shared fifth place in the blindfold, shared third place in the rapid and a shared second place in the overall tournament.

Carlsen was one of 21 players in the six-tournament FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2009, a qualifier for the World Chess Championship 2012. In the first tournament, in Baku, Azerbaijan, in April–May 2008, he finished in a three-way tie for first place, with another 2800 Elo performance. Carlsen later withdrew from the Grand Prix cycle despite his initial success, citing "dramatic change[s] to ... regulations."[20]

Carlsen won a rapid match against Peter Leko held at Miskolc, Hungary, scoring 5:3 (two wins, six draws).[21]

In June, Carlsen won an annual Aerosvit event.[22] In his strongest tournament performance at that point in his career, he finished undefeated with eight out of eleven (five wins, six draws) in a category 19 field. His Elo performance was 2878.

Playing in a category 18 Biel tournament, Carlsen finished third with six points out of ten (three wins, one loss, six draws), with Elo performance of 2741, his first sub-2800 performance of 2008.

In the Mainz World Rapid Chess Championship, Carlsen finished in second place after losing the final to defending champion Anand 3:1 (two losses, two draws).[23] To reach the final Magnus played against Judit Polgár scoring 1½ point out of two (one win, one draw), against Anand scoring one point out of two (two draws) and against Morozevich scoring one point out of two (two draws).

In the category 21 Bilbao Masters, Carlsen finished second with a 2768 performance rating (three wins, three losses, four draws).

[edit] 2009

Playing in Group A of the Corus chess tournament, Carlsen tied for fifth with a 2739 performance (two wins, one loss, ten draws).[24]

In the Linares chess tournament, Carlsen finished third with a 2777 performance (three wins, two losses, nine draws). In this tournament, he defeated World Champion Viswanathan Anand [25] and the eventual winner Alexander Grischuk [26] for the first time under classical time controls.

Carlsen tied for second place with Veselin Topalov at the M-Tel Masters (category 21) tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. He lost to eventual winner Alexei Shirov in their final game, dropping him from first.[27]

Carlsen won the category 21 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament, 2½ points ahead of second-place finisher Topalov, the world's highest-rated player at the time.[28] He scored 8/10 (six wins, four draws, no losses), winning every game as White (against Topalov, Wang Yue, Leko, Radjabov, and Jakovenko), and also winning as Black against Jakovenko. By rating performance, this was the greatest result in history, with a record performance rating of 3002. This lifted his FIDE rating to 2801, making him the 5th and youngest player to ever surpass 2800.

In the Tal Memorial 2009, played from 5 November to 14 November, Carlsen started with seven straight draws, but finished with wins over Ruslan Ponomariov and Peter Leko. This result put Carlsen in shared second place behind Kramnik and equal with Ivanchuk.[29][30]

After the Tal Memorial, Carlsen won the 2009 World Blitz Championship, played from 16 November to 18 November in Moscow, Russia. His score of 28 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses left him three points ahead of Anand, who finished in second place.[31]

Carlsen entered the 2009 London Chess Classic as the top seed in a field including Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Ni Hua, Luke McShane and David Howell. He defeated Kramnik in round one and went on to win the tournament with 13/21 (three points were awarded for a win, and one for a draw; using classical scoring he finished with 5/7) and a performance rating of 2844, one point ahead of Kramnik. This victory has propelled him to the top of the FIDE rating list, surpassing Veselin Topalov.

Carlsen's average rating from the July 2009 and January 2010 FIDE lists will enable him to qualify for the Candidates Tournament of the World Chess Championship 2012 cycle.

In early 2009 Carlsen engaged former world champion Garry Kasparov as a personal trainer.[32] In September 2009 their partnership was confirmed in Norwegian newspapers.[33][34]

[edit] 2010

Ahead of 2010, Carlsen said that he would be playing in fewer tournaments the coming year. The cooperation with Kasparov continued until March that year.[35]

Carlsen won the Corus chess tournament played January 16–31 with 8½ points (five wins, seven draws, one loss). His ninth-round loss to Kramnik ended a streak of 36 rated games undefeated.[36] Carlsen appeared to struggle in the last round against Fabiano Caruana, but saved a draw leaving him half a point ahead of Kramnik and Shirov.[37]

The March 2010 FIDE rating list showed Carlsen with a new peak rating of 2813, a figure that only Kasparov has bettered.[38] In the same month it was announced that Carlsen had split

from Kasparov and would no longer be using him as a trainer,[38] although this was put into different context by Carlsen himself in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel stating that they would remain in contact and that he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov.[39]

Carlsen shared first place alongside Ivanchuk in the Amber 2010 blindfold and rapid tournament. Carlsen scored 6½ points in the blindfold and 8 points in the rapid, giving 14½ points from a possible 22 points.

In May 2010 it was revealed that Carlsen had helped Viswanathan Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov, which Anand won 6½-5½ to retain the title. Carlsen had also helped Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2007 and World Chess Championship 2008.[40]

In his first tournament since his announced departure from Kasparov, Carlsen played in the Bazna Kings Tournament in Romania from June 14 through June 25. The tournament was a double round robin event involving Wang Yue, Boris Gelfand, former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. After drawing his first three games, Carlsen won his next four and set a personal livechess rating peak of 2825,1.[41] He finished with 7½/10 and a 2918 performance rating, winning the tournament by two points over Radjabov and Gelfand.[42][43] The victory ensured that Carlsen remained at the top of the Elo rating list. His official rating hit 2826, a figure exceeded only by Kasparov and just 25 points shy of tying Kasparov's all-time record.

Carlsen then played in a rapid tournament from August 28 to August 30 at the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament in Kristiansund, Norway. The field featured world champion Viswanathan Anand, female world #1 Judit Polgar, and Jon Ludvig Hammer. In the preliminary round robin, Carlsen scored 3½/6 to qualify for the final, second behind Anand.[44] In the final, Carlsen defeated Anand 1½-0½ to win the championship.[45]

Following this event, Carlsen took part in the 39th Chess Olympiad from September 19 to October 4. In round four, he lost against Baadur Jobava on the black side of the Nimzo-Indian Defense; this was his first loss with the black pieces in more than a year, and his first loss since January 2010. Carlsen finished with an individual score of 4.5/8, also losing games to Michael Adams and Sanan Sjugirov; the result dropped his rating from 2826 to 2811.[46] His team, Norway, finished 51st out of 149 teams; however Norway did win the bid to host the 2014 Olympiad.[47][48]

As winner of three of the previous year's four Grand Slam chess events (2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring, 2010 Corus, 2010 Bazna Kings), Carlsen automatically qualified for the final of the Grand Slam Chess Masters supertournament in Bilbao from October 9 to October 15, 2010. Along with Carlsen, the finals consisted of World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the highest two scorers from the preliminary stage held in Shanghai in September, which featured Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Alexei Shirov, and Wang Hao; Shirov and Kramnik qualified.[49][50] The official September 2010 ratings of Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik and Shirov made the Grand Slam final the strongest tournament in chess history, with an average ELO of 2789. In the first round, Carlsen lost on the black side of the Queen's Indian Defense to Kramnik; this was Carlsen's second consecutive loss to Kramnik, and placed his hold on the world #1 ranking in serious jeopardy. In his second round, Carlsen lost with the white pieces

to Anand in the Ruy Lopez; this was his first loss as white since January 2010, and dropped him to world #2 in the live rankings behind Anand.

Following the Grand Slam Chess Masters final, Carlsen will attempt to defend his 2009 title at the 2010 Pearl Spring chess tournament, which will run from October 19 to 30 in Nanjing, China, and feature Anand, world #2 Veselin Topalov, Vugar Gashimov, Wang Yue, and Etienne Bacrot.[51] This will be the only tournament in 2010 to feature Anand, Carlsen and Topalov, currently the top three players in the world.

Carlsen will participate in the 2010 World Blitz Championship, in Moscow from November 17 to 18, following the 2010 Tal Memorial.

Carlsen will attempt to defend his title in the 2010 London Chess Classic, December 8 to 15. The field will include world champion Viswanathan Anand, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, American number one Hikaru Nakamura, and British players Michael Adams, Nigel Short, David Howell, and Luke McShane.[52]

[edit] Game style

Since the announcement that Magnus was working with Kasparov, Kasparov has repeatedly stated that Carlsen has a positional style, similar to that of past world champions such as Anatoly Karpov, Jose Capablanca, and Vassily Smyslov. Positional play aims for long term, static advantages (such as space and pawn structure) as opposed to a tactical style which plays for dynamic advantages (such as initiative). Past world champions known for their tactical style include Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Mikhail Tal.[53][54]

[edit] Rating

In the October 2006 FIDE Elo ratings, Carlsen advanced to world number 22 with a rating of 2698.[55] In the January 2007 ratings he dropped to 2690 and rank 24.[56] In the July 2007 ratings, after a series of strong results, Carlsen advanced to become world number 17 with a rating of 2710.[57] On the January 2008 FIDE rating list he was rated at 2733,[58] and on October 2008 he reached 2786 Elo rating.[59] He was placed sixth in the July 2008 list, but if his Aerosvit result had been included he would have been ranked second. The omission of the Aerosvit result, which finished after the cut-off date for the July 2008 list, caused some controversy.[60]

On 5 September 2008, after winning round 4 in the Bilbao Grand Slam chess championship, Carlsen, still under 18, briefly became number one on the unofficial live ratings list.[61][62]

Carlsen's September–October 2009 victory in the Nanjing Pearl tournament raised his official rating to 2801, making him at age 18 the youngest player ever to break 2800.[63] The youngest before him was Vladimir Kramnik at age 25.[64] Besides Carlsen, only Kasparov, Topalov, Kramnik, and Anand (all of whom were world champions) have achieved a 2800 rating.[65] Carlsen said that he hoped his victory would mark the "beginning of a new era."[66]

After the Tal Memorial (November 2009) he became number one in the unofficial live chess rating list with his new peak rating of 2805.7, 0.6 point over the number 2, Veselin Topalov.[67]

The official FIDE rankings were published on 1 January 2010, and the 16 games played at the Tal Memorial and the London Chess Classic were enough to raise his rating by 8.6 rating points to 2810.[68] This meant that Carlsen started 2010 by being the official (and, at the age of 19 years, 32 days, the youngest ever) world number one, and also the first player from a western nation to reach the top in the FIDE rating list since Bobby Fischer in 1972.[69][70] The press coverage of this feat included an interview and article in Time magazine .[71][72]

[edit] Standing on each top 100 FIDE list

Rating list Rating Games Change World ranking AgeJanuary 2006 2625 40 +55 89 15 years, 01 monthApril 2006 2646 13 +21 63 15 years, 04 monthsJuly 2006 2675 27 +29 31 15 years, 07 monthsOctober 2006 2698 46 +23 21 15 years, 10 monthsJanuary 2007 2690 11 −8 24 16 years, 01 monthApril 2007 2693 27 +3 22 16 years, 04 monthsJuly 2007 2710 19 +17 17 16 years, 07 monthsOctober 2007 2714 25 +4 16 16 years, 10 monthsJanuary 2008 2733 37 +19 13 17 years, 01 monthApril 2008 2765 27 +32 5 17 years, 04 monthsJuly 2008 2775 16 +10 6 17 years, 07 monthsOctober 2008 2786 31 +11 4 17 years, 10 monthsJanuary 2009 2776 17 −10 4 18 years, 01 monthApril 2009 2770 27 −6 3 18 years, 04 monthsJuly 2009 2772 12 +2 3 18 years, 07 monthsSeptember 2009 2772 10 0 4 18 years, 09 monthsNovember 2009 2801 10 +29 2 18 years, 11 monthsJanuary 2010 2810 16 +9 1 19 years, 01 monthMarch 2010 2813 13 +3 1 19 years, 03 monthsMay 2010 2813 0 0 1 19 years, 05 monthsJuly 2010 2826 10 +13 1 19 years, 07 monthsSeptember 2010 2826 0 0 1 19 years, 09 months

bold, new peak rating

[edit] Books and films

Agdestein, S. (2004). Wonderboy: how Magnus Carlsen became the youngest Chess Grandmaster in the world: the story of the games. Interchess. ISBN 90-5691-131-7.

The Prince of Chess, a film about Magnus Carlsen (2005) Directed by Øyvind Asbjørnsen.[73]

Veselin TopalovFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

Veselin Topalov

Full nameVeselin Topalov

(Веселин Топалов)

Country  Bulgaria

Born15 March 1975 (age 35)

Rousse, Bulgaria

Title Grandmaster

World Champion 2005–2006 (FIDE)

FIDE rating2803

(No. 2 in the September 2010 FIDE World Rankings)

Peak rating 2813 (October 2006, July 2009)This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Veselin Topalov (pronounced [vɛsɛˈlin toˈpɑlof]; Bulgarian: Веселин Топалов; born 15 March 1975), is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the second highest rating in the world,[1] and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½-5½.

Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 match against Vladimir Kramnik.

Topalov won the 2005 Chess Oscar.[2] He was ranked #1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his Elo rating was 2813, which had been surpassed only by Garry Kasparov, and subsequently by Magnus Carlsen. He regained the world #1 ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained #1 until January 2010, when he fell to #2 behind Magnus Carlsen.[3]

He has been ranked number one a total of 27 months in his career, fourth all-time since the inception of the FIDE ranking lists in 1971 behind only Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and Bobby Fischer.

Contents

[hide] 1 Early career (1989-2005) 2 FIDE World Chess Champion 2005

3 Kramnik-Topalov match controversy

4 Career after the 2006 match

5 2008-2010 World Championship cycle

6 2010

7 Notable tournament victories

8 World championship matches and qualifiers

9 Sample game

10 References

11 External links

[edit] Early career (1989-2005)

Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria. His father taught him to play chess at the age of eight. Topalov had a difficult childhood, but he quickly established himself as a chess prodigy. At age 12, Topalov began working with Silvio Danailov, in a training/mentoring relationship that continues today. Danailov himself was a master who nurtured ambitions as a player. Once he saw Topalov, however, he sacrificed his own career.[4] Canadian Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett wrote: "Danailov took Topalov to his apartment and told him ‘From now on, you live here and this will become your new home. I am not just your trainer, but I am also your mother and your father. I am your cook. I am the one who will wash your clothes. I am the one who will pay your bills and expenses to tournaments. All I want from you is to think only about chess!"[5]

In 1989 he won the World Under-14 Championship in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore. He became a Grandmaster in 1992. Topalov has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow he led the Bulgarians to a fourth-place finish.

Over the next ten years Topalov won a number of tournaments, and ascended the world chess rankings. He played in Linares 1994 (6½/13), Linares 1995 (8/13), Amsterdam 1995. In 1996, he won Amsterdam (1st equal with Kasparov), Vienna (ahead of Karpov), Novgorod and Dos Hermanas (1st-2nd with Kramnik, ahead of Anand, Kasparov, Illescas, Kamsky, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Shirov and J. Polgar). As early as 1996, he was being invited to "supergrandmaster" events for the world's élite such as Las Palmas (5/10), the first category 21 tournament, played in December 1996, with Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Karpov participating.

Topalov's loss to reigning Classical World Champion Garry Kasparov at the 1999 Corus chess tournament is generally hailed as one of the greatest games ever played. Kasparov later

said, "[During the game] He looked up. Perhaps there was a sign from above that Topalov would play a great game today. It takes two, you know, to do that."[6]

In the knockout tournaments for the FIDE World Chess Championship, he reached the last 16 in 1999, the quarter-finals in 2000, the final 16 in 2001, and the semi-finals in the 2004 tournament. In 2002, he lost the final of the Dortmund Candidates Tournament (for the right to challenge for the rival Classical World Chess Championship) to Péter Lékó.

Topalov scored his first "super-tournament" success at Linares 2005, tying for first place with Garry Kasparov (though losing on tiebreak rules), and defeating Kasparov in the last round, in what was to be Kasparov's last tournament game before his retirement.[7] He followed this up with a one point victory (+4 =5 −1) at the M-Tel Masters 2005 tournament, ahead of Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, Michael Adams, and Judit Polgár. The average rating of the participants was 2744, making this super-GM, double round-robin tournament the strongest in 2005.

[edit] FIDE World Chess Champion 2005

On the strength of his rating, Topalov was invited to the eight-player, double round-robin FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, in September-October 2005. Scoring 6½/7 in the first cycle, Topalov had virtually clinched the tournament at the halfway mark, before drawing every game in the second cycle to win by 1½ points to become FIDE World Chess Champion. The average rating of the field in the championship was 2739, and Topalov's performance rating was 2890.[8]

The unification of the FIDE World Title (held by Topalov) and the Classical Chess World Title (held by Vladimir Kramnik) was fervently encouraged by the chess community. On 16 April 2006, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced that a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov would be held in September-October 2006. Kramnik defeated Topalov to become the first undisputed champion in thirteen years.

[edit] Kramnik-Topalov match controversy

Main article: FIDE World Chess Championship 2006

On 28 September 2006, Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on Kramnik's behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian team made a public statement that Kramnik visited his private bathroom (the only place without any audio or video surveillance) unreasonably often, about fifty times per game (a number that FIDE officials later claimed to be exaggerated[9]) and made the most significant decisions in the game in the bathroom.

They also demanded that the organizers of the tournament allow journalists access to the surveillance video from Kramnik's room for games 1 through 4. The organizers made parts of the video available, explaining that other parts of it were missing due to technical issues. Danailov demanded to stop the use of private restrooms and bathrooms, and threatened to reconsider Topalov's participation in the match.[10] The Appeals Committee that governed the match agreed, and ruled that the players' private restrooms should be closed and replaced with a shared one.

Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. On 1 October, the restroom issue was resolved in Kramnik's favour and the Appeals Committee resigned and were replaced. The FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov decided that the current score of 3-2 should be preserved. He also indicated that this was not a compromise decision but his own.[11] The match resumed on 2 October 2006.

On 1 October, the Association of Chess Professionals released a statement denouncing Danailov for publicly accusing his opponent without evidence, and calling for him to be investigated by the FIDE Ethics Committee. Topalov has also been similarly denounced by numerous top players, including former World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, and Viswanathan Anand, grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi,[12] former US Champions Lev Alburt and Yasser Seirawan, and others.[13][14]

On 3 October, Topalov said in a press conference, "I believe that his (Kramnik's) play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it".[15] However the next day the crisis escalated, with Topalov's manager strongly implying that Kramnik was receiving computer assistance.[16]

On 14 December 2006, Topalov directly accused Kramnik of using computer assistance in their World Championship match.[17] On 14 February 2007, Topalov's manager released pictures, purporting to show cables in the ceiling of a toilet used by Kramnik during the World Championship match in Elista. They were supposedly reported to the authorities, who Danailov claims suppressed the information. The Topalov team claims they were pressured by officials to keep their allegations quiet.[18] On 29 July 2007, following a complaint by Kramnik's manager Carsten Hensel, the FIDE Ethics Commission sanctioned Topalov with "a severe reprimand" because of the accusations made in the interview of 14 December. According to the Ethics Commission, "these statements were clearly defamatory and damaged the honour of Mr. Vladimir Kramnik, harming his personal and professional reputation".[19]

[edit] Career after the 2006 match

Soon after losing the world title, Topalov participated in the Essent Chess Tournament. He finished third of four players with only 2½ points from 6 games and a 2645 performance. He lost both games against Judit Polgár and one against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

In May 2006, Topalov defended his M-Tel Masters title, coming first with 6½/10, a half point ahead of Gata Kamsky (who he beat 2-0). Topalov started the tournament somewhat hesitantly to later record four consecutive wins and decisively claim the title.

In January 2007, Topalov finished in joint first place (ahead of Kramnik, who finished 4th) at the Category 19 Corus Chess Tournament along with Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov.

Topalov won the 14th Ciudad Dos Hermanas rapid, 17–21 April 2008, defeating GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) 2½–1½ in the final match by winning the first game and drawing the rest. The first round matches of the four-player knockout tournament were won by Topalov over GM Judit Polgár (Hungary) 2½–1½ and Vallejo over GM Alexei Shirov (Spain) 3–1.[20]

In September 2008, Topalov won the Bilbao 2008 tournament. He advanced to first in the world in the unofficial live ratings and in the official October 2008 ratings list.

[edit] 2008-2010 World Championship cycle

By losing the 2006 reunification match, Topalov lost his chance to compete in the 2007 world championship tournament. Danailov expressed a desire for a rematch between Topalov and Kramnik, proposing a match in March 2007,[21] though no such match took place.

The issue was settled in June 2007 when Topalov (as well as Kramnik) was granted special privileges in the 2008-09 championship cycle.[22] Topalov was given direct entry to a "Challenger Match" against the winner of the Chess World Cup 2007.

The 2007 Chess World Cup was won by Gata Kamsky. The Challenger Match between Topalov and Kamsky took place in February 2009 in Hall 6 of NDK Sofia. Topalov won that match 4½-2½ and qualified to play against the current world champion Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Champion title but Topalov lost the match 6½-5½.

[edit] 2010

Topalov won the 2010 Linares chess tournament held from February 13 to 24 in Andalusia, Spain, defeating 2009 Chess World Cup champion Boris Gelfand in his final game.[23][24][25]

As the runner-up in the World Chess Championship 2010, Topalov has automatically qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2012, where he will be the top seed. He is scheduled to face American Gata Kamsky in his first Candidates Tournament match.

[edit] Notable tournament victories

Terrassa 1992 Budapest zt-B 1993

Polanica Zdroj 1995

Elenite 1995

Madrid 1996

Dos Hermanas 1996 (joint first with Kramnik)

Amsterdam 1996

Vienna 1996

Novgorod 1996

Leon 1996

Antwerp 1997

Madrid 1997

Monaco 2001

Dortmund 2001 (joint first with Kramnik)

NAO Chess Masters Cannes 2002 (joint first with Gelfand)

Benidorm 2003

Linares 2005 (joint first with Kasparov)

M-Tel Masters 2005 (a point ahead of Anand)

Corus 2006 (joint first with Anand)

M-Tel Masters 2006 (half a point ahead of Gata Kamsky)

Corus 2007 (joint first with Aronian and Radjabov)

M-Tel Masters 2007

Champions League Vitoria Gasteiz 2007 (a point and a half a head of Ponomariov)

Dos Hermanas 2008 (Rapid)

Villarrobledo 2008 (Rapid)

Bilbao 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian, Ivanchuk, and Carlsen)

Pearl Spring 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian)

Linares 2010 (a half point ahead of Grischuk)

[edit] World championship matches and qualifiers

FIDE World Chess Championship 1998 Second Round, Groningen, Topalov-Piket (½-1½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 1999 Fourth Round, Las Vegas, Topalov-Kramnik (1-3)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2000 Quarterfinals, New Delhi and Tehran, Topalov-Adams (½-1½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2002 Fourth Round, Moscow, Topalov-Shirov (3-4)

Classical WCC Candidates Match 2002, Dortmund, Topalov-Leko (1½-2½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2004 Semifinals, Tripoli, Topalov-Kasimdzhanov (2-4)

FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 , San Luis, (a point and a half ahead of Anand and Svidler)

FIDE World Chess Championship 2006 , Elista, Topalov-Kramnik (6-6, 1½-2½ rapid playoff)

FIDE WCC Candidates Match 2009, Sofia, Topalov-Kamsky (4½-2½)

[edit] Sample game

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g hIn this position after move 17 in the 2005 M-Tel Masters game between Veselin Topalov and

Ruslan Ponomariov, Topalov (White) initiates a series of strong tactical blows with a sacrifice of a knight and a rook.

On the way to winning M-Tel Masters in 2005, Topalov defeated former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov with the white pieces in a Queen's Indian defense. (Analysis by Rybka 1.2n.)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Rc1 c6 9.e4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.h4 h6 15.Bb1 f5? Needlessly weakening the position. Better is 15. ... Nd7 16. Bxh6!? f5 (16...gxh6? 17.Qc2 f5 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Ng5! mates in 8 moves) 17. Bf4 Qa5, which may have given black good chances for equality. 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qc2! d4 17. ... Bxc3? leads to defeat after 18. Qh7+ Kf7 19. Bxc3, with an overwhelming attack: for example, 19...d4 20. Qg6+ Ke7 21. Nxd4!. But Topalov found a way to break black's defenses in Ponomariov's chosen line, too. (See diagram) 18.Ng5!! hxg5 19.hxg5 dxc3 20.Bf4 Kf7 21.Qg6+ Ke7 22.gxf6+ Rxf6 23.Qxg7+ Rf7 24.Bg5+ Kd6 25.Qxf7 Qxg5 26.Rh7 Qe5+ 27.Kf1 Kc6 28.Qe8+ Kb6 29.Qd8+ Kc6 30.Be4+! 1-0 Black resigned, because if black took the white bishop with 30 ... Qxe4, then white mates with 31. Qc7+.

[edit]

Étienne BacrotFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from Etienne Bacrot)Jump to: navigation, search

Étienne Bacrot

Full name Étienne Bacrot

Country  France

BornJanuary 22, 1983 (age 27)

Picardie, France

Title Grandmaster

FIDE rating2713

(No. 25 on the January 2010 FIDE ratings list)

Peak rating 2731 (April 2005)

Étienne Bacrot (French pronunciation: [etjɛn baˈkʁo]) (born January 22, 1983 in Picardie, France) is a French chess grandmaster and currently ranked second in France (after GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave).

He started playing at 4; by 10 young Bacrot was already winning junior competitions and in 1996, at 13 years of age, he won against Vasily Smyslov. He became a Grandmaster in March 1997 at the age of 14 years and 2 months, making him the youngest person to that date to have held the title (later in December, Ruslan Ponomariov took his record).

He has won several competition and notable games. He first passed the mark of 2700 in Elo rating in 2004. In January 2005, he became the first French player to enter the top 10. His highest Elo rating ever was 2731 in April 2005. On the January 2009 FIDE list, Bacrot had an Elo rating of 2721, making him number 21 in the world and France's number 1.

Bacrot scored 6/8 in the 37th Chess Olympiad in 2006 against opponents averaging 2640, gaining 13 Elo points. This earned him the bronze medal for the third best individual performance in the Olympiad. One of his notable wins was against top American grandmaster Gata Kamsky.[1]

Bacrot served as one of the four advisors to the world team in the 1999 Kasparov versus the world event.

He has a son, Alexandre, with Nathalie Bonnafous.

Contents

[hide] 1 Annual hometown game 2 Notable results

3 Team results

4 Youth results

5 Rankings

6 Notes

7 External links

[edit] Annual hometown game

As well as playing in tournaments and team competitions, Bacrot has since 1995 played an annual six-game match against a prominent player in his home town of Albert. In 1996 he beat Vasily Smyslov 5-1, in 1997 lost to Viktor Korchnoi 4-2, in 1998 defeated Robert Hübner 3.5-2.5, in 1999 lost to Alexander Beliavsky 3.5-2.5, in 2000 lost to Nigel Short 4-2, in 2001 tied 3-3 with Emil Sutovsky, in 2002 beat Boris Gelfand 3.5-2.5, and in 2004 won against Ivan Sokolov 3.5-2.5 (there was no match in 2003).

[edit] Notable results

Six times French champion (becoming at 16 years old the youngest French champion ever) with five in a row from 1999 to 2003 and then in 2008.

Beat Boris Gelfand at 19 years old 3.5-2.5 and Ivan Sokolov at 21 years old 3.5-2.5 in Albert.

Beat Judit Polgár 3-1 in a rapid match at age 16 years old in Bastia, tied Anatoly Karpov in a rapid match 3-3 at 17 years old.

Won Enghien-les-Bains tournament in 1997 ahead of Viktor Korchnoi doing his final GM norm at 14 years old and 4 months.

Won Lausanne young masters in 1999 beating Ruslan Ponomariov in final.

Qualified for the quarter-final of the world rapid chess championships in 2003 in Cap d'Agde.

Accomplished an 11/11 score in French team championship in 2004.

Won Petrosian memorial with the world team in 2004 with the tied 3rd individual performance.

Won Karpov Poikovsky tournament in 2005 ahead of Viktor Bologan, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler and Alexey Dreev.

Finished third at Dortmund Sparkassen prestigious super tournament in 2005.

Finished third at the 2005 FIDE world cup beating Alexander Grischuk for bronze. This qualified him for the Candidates tournament of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 in May-June 2007, although he would have qualified on rating anyway. However he was eliminated from the Candidates in the first round of matches, losing 3.5-0.5 to Gata Kamsky.

Won the 2006 FiNet Chess960 Open with a 9.5/11 score.

Won the 2008 French Championship.[2]

Won the 2009 Aeroflot Open.

[edit] Team results

European team chess championship playing with France: 2nd in 2001, 3rd in 2005. Many times French team champion and European club champion with Nao chess

club.

[edit] Youth results

World champion in under-10 years old category. World champion in under-12 years old category.

Beat Levon Aronian in a match in Albert.

IM at 12 years old.

GM at 14 years old setting a new record at that time.

[edit] Rankings

In the October 2008 FIDE list he had an Elo rating of 2705 (ranked 29th in the world). His Elo rating has been above 2700 since July 2004.

Ranked number 9 in the world in every 2005 FIDE list, playing 55 games.

Achieved at his best 2731 which is the 31st best rating ever achieved by a chess player as of July, 2010. [1]

Ranked number two in France. (France is ranked 7 in the world [2]).

[edit] Notes

1. ̂ Schachserver Der Weiner Zeitung(Austria), "37th Chess Olympiad 2006"2. ̂ Chessvine Article, "GM Etienne Bacrot wins French Championship"

Vugar GashimovFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

Vugar Gashimov

Full name Vüqar Həşimov

Country  Azerbaijan

BornJuly 24, 1986 (age 24)

Baku, Azerbaijan

Title Grandmaster

FIDE rating2734

(No. 17 in the May 2010 FIDE World Rankings)

Peak rating 2759 (January 2010)

Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijani: Vüqar Həşimov), born July 24, 1986 in Baku, is one of the leading chess players from Azerbaijan. He is a noted player of Bullet chess and three times Azerbaijani national chess champion (1995, 1996 and in 1998).[1] He won at Athens 2005 (Acropolis International).[2]

He is a two-times winner of the colossal Cappelle-la-Grande open: in 2007 (Wang Yue won the Buchholz tie-break) and 2008 (clear first).

After the first four of six tournaments, he is fifth of the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009.

Contents

[hide] 1 Team competitions 2 Personal life

3 Notable games

4 References

5 External links

[edit] Team competitions

Gashimov played for Azerbaijan in the Chess Olympiads of 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.[3] He played in the gold medal-winning Azerbaijani team at the European Team Chess Championship in Novi Sad in 2009, alongside Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, Rauf Mammadov and Gadir Guseinov, previously winning bronze medal in 2007.[4][5]

[edit] Personal life

He is known to enjoy football, table tennis and billiards. He is also avid fan of Jackie Chan movies.[1]

[edit] Notable games

Vugar Gashimov vs Gata Kamsky, Baku Grand Prix 2008, Spanish Game: Closed Variations (C84), 1-0

Vugar Gashimov vs Andrei Volokitin, Poikovsky Tournament 2008, Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B96), 1-0

Vugar Gashimov vs Alexander Grischuk, Elista Grand Prix 2008, Sicilian Defense: Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn Variation (B97), 1-0

Vugar Gashimov vs Alexander Beliavsky, Gibtelecom 2009, Spanish Game: Closed Variations (C84), 1-0

Wang YueFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from Yue Wang)Jump to: navigation, search

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wang.

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Wang Yue

Wang Yue, China's number one chess player

Full name Wang Yue

Country  China

BornMarch 31, 1987 (age 23)

Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

Title

Grandmaster (2004; aged 17)

International Master (2003; aged 16)

FIDE Master (2000; aged 13)

FIDE rating 2732 (No. 16 in the September 2010 FIDE World Rankings)

Peak rating 2752 (May 2010)

Wang Yue (Chinese: 王玥; pinyin: Wáng Yuè) is a Chinese chess player. He is China's highest ever rated chess grandmaster with a peak Elo rating of 2751. In 2004, he became China's 18th Grandmaster at the age of 17.

In October 2007, Wang became the first ever Chinese player and third Asian player to cross the 2700 Elo rating mark. In October 2008, he became the World Number 11, the highest ever ranking a Chinese player has achieved, surpassing the previous record of 17th by Ye Jiangchuan set in 2000. He has since surpassed this with a current world ranking of 9 in the January 2010 FIDE rankings, becoming the first ever Chinese world top-ten player.

Wang is currently ranked 2nd in Asia after World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India. In the FIDE Grand Prix, he was a last round victory over Teimour Radjabov away from joining Levon Aronian as automatic qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament of the World Chess Championship 2012 cycle from the Grand Prix; however, Radjabov secured a draw which allowed him to win the final qualifying position.[1]

Wang Yue was to play on 1st Board at the World Team Chess Championship in January 2010, until China dropped out of the event at the last minute.[2][3]

Contents

[hide]

1 Career biography 2 1999–2006: Junior player

3 2006: Becomes a 2600 Elo player

4 2007: Becomes a 2700 player

5 2008: Becomes a Top 20 player

6 2009

7 2010: Becomes a Top 10 player

8 China Chess League

9 Future events

10 Rating

11 Online chess

12 Playing style

13 Openings

14 Sample game

15 See also

16 References

17 External links

[edit] Career biography

Wang Yue was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province,[4] where he learned to play chess at the age of four. He would during summer every day after dinner watch people play Xiangqi in the streets. When he was 5, with the support of his parents he started to receive chess training at school and made rapid progress. When he was 9 he joined the National Junior Team and won the Li Chengzhi (李成智) National Children's Cup. At 12, he joined the National Team and at 15 he joined Tianjin City Club.

He is currently a Communication Studies student at the College of Liberal Arts of Nankai University in Tianjin.[5] He also plays for his university club chess team.

Since 2004, he has been a member of China's Olympiad chess team, which also includes Ni Hua, Bu Xiangzhi, Wang Hao and Li Chao.

In 2005, he became the youngest National men's Champion of China. Also, in 2005 he won both the National Youth Championship and the National Collegiate Championship.

Wang has participated in several national team summit matches, including against the United States (2002), Russia (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), France (2006) and the UK (2007).

In February 2007 he won the colossal Cappelle-la-Grande open above 93 Grandmasters and 80 International masters (608 players), achieving his goal of crossing 2700 Elo (China's first). He is presently aiming for 2750, as stated in an interview with Susan Polgar at the 2008 Olympiad.[6] He is currently ranked 15 on the FIDE September 2009 list, and has a Live ranking of 14 [7].

From March to December 2008, Wang Yue went 85 consecutive games without a loss, one of the longest streaks on record.[8] His unbeaten run began in the second round of the Reykjavík Open and ended during round 1 of the third FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009 tournament.[9] (See List of tournaments and List of world records in chess.)

[edit] 1999–2006: Junior player

Wang Yue at the 38th Chess Olympiad, November 2008 in Dresden, Germany

In 1999, Wang won the under-12 category of the World Youth Chess Championship in Oropesa del Mar, Spain.

In 2000, he came second in the U-14 category World Youth Ch, which was also held in Oropesa del Mar, to Alexander Areshchenko. That year, in Artek, Ukraine, and again in 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he competed for the China national chess team at the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiads. In 2000, the team came 9th, with Wang scoring 6.0/9 (+4,=4,-1) with a 2430 performance. The 2002 team won gold and he also achieved on first board an individual gold medal for his stunning result of 8.5/10 (+7,=3,-0) with a 2657 performance.[10]

He was supported by team-mate Zhao Jun who had an 80% score on board 2.

In July–August 2002, at the Second China–USA Match in Shanghai, Wang scored 2.5/4 (+1,=3,-0) with a performance of 2526. He played Hikaru Nakamura once in the last round which was a draw, and all the other first three games were against Vinay Bhat. China won 20½ - 19½ overall.

In April 2004, Wang scored the highest with 9.0/11 at the Chinese Men's Team Championships in Jinan,[11] and in December 2005, he became the National Chess Champion

of China with a score of 12.5/18 in Beijing. In August of that year, at the 2nd China-Russia Match in Moscow, Wang scored 3.0/6 (+1, =4, -1) with a 2670 performance. China won the match 37.5 - 34.5.[12] Continuing, from October 14–31, when Wang became a FIDE master, he competed in his debut Olympiad in Calvià, Majorca scoring 8.0/12 (+5,=6,-1) on the first reserve board with a 2621 performance. The team finished in 24th place and Wang finished on 16th in the individual board standings. At this event he achieved his last GM norm and became China's then youngest grandmaster. December 18–23 saw him at the Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament, with games starting at 12:00 noon in Paris, 14:00 in St. Petersburg. 15:00 in Yerevan and 19:00 in Beijing. Each country faced each of the other three countries two times for a total of six rounds. Fischer time control will be used (1 hour 30 minutes plus 15 minutes added at move 40; 30 second increments are added after every move). The event took place on ICC. China won the Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament. Their final round match against Russia came down to the wire. The Russians led 2-1 but Wang Yue beat Vadim Zvjaginsev to tie the match and win the event for the Chinese. Final Scores: China 14.0 - France 13.0 - Russia 13.0 - Armenia 8.0. China players: (average rating: 2590) GM Bu Xiangzhi 2615 GM Ni Hua 2611 GM Zhang Zhong 2596 GM Wang Yue 2536

In February 2005, he scored 5.5/9 at the Aeroflot Open. In April, he scored 6.0/9 at the Dubai Open. It was won by 16 year old Wang Hao. In July, he came third on tiebreak with 6.5/11 (+3 -1 =7) at the 2nd Sanjin International Hotel GM Cup in his hometown Taiyuan. Pentala Harikrishna won with 8.5/11 a point clear of Alexander Motylev.[13] In October, he also came third with 6.5/9 at the 5th Asian Individual Championship in Hyderabad, India. In November, he came fifth with 8.5/13 at the World Junior Chess Championship in Istanbul, and reached the second round of the FIDE World Cup having beaten and lost to Karen Asrian and Ilia Smirin, respectively.

[edit] 2006: Becomes a 2600 Elo player

In February, he scored 4.5/9 at the Aeroflot Open. In June at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, the national team, seeded 12, came second winning silver. Wang, on board four, went undefeated scoring 10.0/12 points (8 wins and 4 draws) and received an individual gold medal for this board four result, as well as an individual silver medal for his rating performance of 2837 (the second highest of all players after Vladimir Kramnik of Russia).[14]

In July 10–22 at the Taiyuan Scheveningen Event, the Chinese team won 36.5-35.5 against the foreign side with Wang scoring 6.5/12. From 28 July to 7 August, at the 4th Marx György Memorial (Category 15 av 2622 of July'06 ratings) in Paks, Hungary, Wang scored 5.0/10 (+1, =8, -1) and came joint third with Zoltan Almasi. The tournament was won by Pentala Harikrishna. From 10–20 August, at the 3rd Russia-China match in Erguna, Wang scored 5½/10 (+3, =5, -2) with a 2711 performance. China won the match 51½ - 48½.[15]

In September 4–9 at the Trophée MULTICOMS China-France Match, he scored 4.0/6 with a performance rating of 2712, the highest in the competition. On 7 September, at the 7th Lausanne Young Masters, he came second after having lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final rapidplay playoff.[16] In October, he came sixth with 8.5/13 at the World Junior Championship in Yerevan.

At the Asian Games in Doha in December, the national team won silver with Wang on board two scoring 6.0/9 points (+4, =4, -1) with a 2647 performance.[17]

[edit] 2007: Becomes a 2700 player

In February, he came in joint second with 6.5/9 at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow.[18] In March, he won both the Calvi Open (6.0/7) in France and the Cappelle la Grande tournament - which hosted 87 GMs, 81 IMs and 465 FIDE rated players - on tie-break, ahead of five other players with 7.0/9 points and a performance rating of 2784.[19]

In April, he won the Philippines International Open Chess Championship in Subic Bay Freeport Zone with 7.0/9 points.[20] In July 2007, he came second with 5.0/8 at the 4th Sanjin Hotel Cup in Taiyuan. In July at the 4th Taiyuan Scheveningen Event, the Chinese team lost 17-15 against the foreign side; Vadim Zvjaginsev finished 5.5/8 to top the score in the event, Wang Yue made 5.0/8 to top the score for the Chinese team. In 18–31 August at the 4th China-Russia Match in Nizhniy Novgorod, Wang scored 5.5/10 (+2,=7,-1) with a 2714 performance. China won the match overall 52.5-47.5.[21] In 3–9 September at the UK–China Match in Liverpool, Wang scored 4.0/6 (+2,=4,-0) with a 2722 performance. China won the match 28 - 20.

At the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, in November, Wang defeated Aleksei Pridorozhni (1.5-0.5), Sergei Tiviakov (2.5-1.5) and his compatriot Bu Xiangzhi (1.5-0.5), only to be eliminated by Ivan Cheparinov (0.5-1.5) in the fourth round. In December, Wang came second on tiebreak at the Category 17 XVII Ciudad de Pamplona (Magistral A) tournament in Spain having scored 4.0/7 (TPR 2695). It was won by Francisco Vallejo Pons.

[edit] 2008: Becomes a Top 20 player

Reykjavík Open, March 2008

In January, at the 15th Asian Team Chess Championship in Visakhapatnam, the national team won gold with Wang scoring on board one 4.5/7 points (+3, =3, -1) with a 2534 performance.[22] In February, he scored 7.0/10 (+4,=6,-0) at the Gibraltar Chess Festival Open finishing 20th with a 2653 performance.[23] In March, Wang finished shared first at the Reykjavík Open, together with compatriot Wang Hao (who won on tiebreak) and Hannes Stefansson.

In his super-tournament debut in April–May 2008 at the 1st FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, he came joint first place with Vugar Gashimov and Magnus Carlsen, scoring 8.0/13 (+3,=10,-0) with a performance rating of 2806.[24] Wang called it a "nightmare start" when his planned flight departure from Beijing on the 18th was delayed because of bad weather and did not arrive in Azerbaijan until the early morning of the 21st, thereby missing the opening ceremony as well as having to face the top seed (Magnus Carlsen) with black later on the same day.

In July-August 2008, at the 2nd FIDE Grand Prix in Sochi, he came joint third with Gata Kamsky with 7.5/13 (+2, =11, -0; elo performance 2765) behind winner Levon Aronian and second placed Teimour Radjabov.[25] He was featured on the cover of New in Chess magazine's July 2008 issue. In August 20–30, 2008 in Amsterdam, Wang won the NH Chess Tournament—"Rising Stars" (Wang, Cheparinov, Caruana, L'Ami, Stellwagen) vs. "Experience" (Agdestein, Bareev, Ljubojevic, Korchnoi, Jussupow)—with 8.5/10 points (+7, =3, -0; rating performance 2892) remaining undefeated.[26] As the Rising Star winner of the tournament he won an invitation to the March 2009 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Nice, and immediately after having won all of his first six games, he was invited by Jeroen van den Berg to Group A of the January 2009 Corus Chess Tournament.[27]

In September 2008, he competed at the 5th Russia-China Match in Ningbo where he scored 3.0/5 (+1,=4,-0) with a performance rating of 2767 for the men's team (with Li Chao, Wang Hao, Ni Hua, Bu Xiangzhi).[28] China won the match 26-24.[29] He played at the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Beijing, China during October 3–8, 2008. Also that month, in Halkidiki, Greece, he played for Economist SGSEU-1 Saratov at the 24th European Club Cup and scored 3.0/5 (+1,=4,-0).

In November 2008, he played on board one for the Chinese Open team at the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany (6.5/10 (+3,=7-0) and performance rating 2773). The team came 7th overall. In December 13–29, 2008, at the 3rd FIDE Grand Prix in Elista, Russia - moved from Dohar, Qatar - he came joint fifth-ninth with 6.5/12 (+2 =9 -2).[30]

[edit] 2009

As of April 2009, he is still competing in the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009, which is part of the current World Chess Championship cycle.[31] Wang qualified by being one of the four FIDE president nominees, along with Peter Svidler, Ivan Cheparinov, Étienne Bacrot.[32]

On 16 January - 1 February, Wang in his debut at the event, became the second Chinese player to compete at the Group A Corus after Zhang Zhong in 2004, in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. He came joint 8th with 6.0/13 (+2=8-3) and a 2685 performance in the Category 19 (average 2716) event.[33][34] All of his decisive games were with the white pieces; He lost to Ivanchuk, Adams and Radjabov, and had wins against Morozevich and Carlsen. In Round 2,

he blundered early in a what was to be a wild scrappy game against Ivanchuk with 9.Na7?? in an early deviation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.[35] 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Bg5 dxc4 5 Qa4+ Nbd7 6 Nc3 a6 7 g3 b5 8 Nxb5 Rb8 9 Na7?? A unexpected blunder. 9...Rb4 White must have missed this move. 10 Bxf6 gxf6 11 Qa5 Bb7 The knight on a7 is now trapped. 12 Bh3 Qb8 13 Qh5 Ke7?! 13...Rb6 was much safer. 14 d5 Qxa7 14...Bxd5! 15 Qxd5! exd5 16 Nc6+ Kd6 17 Nxb8 Rxb8 leaves Black with a better ending. 15 dxe6 fxe6 16 Bxe6! The black king's cover is broken, and Wang has almost reached equality. 16...Kxe6 17 Qe8+ Be7 18 Qxh8 Nf8 19 Qg8+ Kd7 20 0-0-0+? This allows the black king to find safety, whereas 20 Qg4+ offered good chances of a perpetual check or 20.Qf7! Qc5 21.Rd1+ Kc6 22.0-0! would have allowed play to go on. 20...Ke8 21 Qg4 Qc5 22 a3 Rxb2! There are no more attacks for white, and black finishes with a king hunt. 23 Kxb2 Qxa3+ 24 Kb1 Qb3+ 25 Ka1 c3 White resigned.

At the 26th Linares chess tournament (February 18 – March 8) Wang Yue made his debut at the eight-player event and became the first ever Chinese player to participate. He was accompanied by IM Li Wenliang. The event was visited by Tian Hongwei, the Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Chess Association, Chinese delegate to FIDE and director of the Pearl Spring chess tournament.[36] Wang Yue finished with +1=11-2 in joint 5th to 7th place on 6½ points with Radjabov and Aronian, 5th on performance rating (2729), and sixth overall on tiebreak. He had his two losses to Grischuk and Anand, and a win over Carlsen.

In 2009, he also participated at the 18th Amber Blindfold & Rapid tournament [34] in Nice (March 14–26) in his debut event & as a second Chinese player (after Xie Jun in 1996)[37], 5th M-Tel Masters [34] in Sofia (May 12–23) (Topalov, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Wang, Dominguez and Shirov) debut event and second Chinese player after Bu Xiangzhi in 2008, 22nd [38] León Rapid[39] León June 4–7, 4 player rapid with Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Carlsen; 20m+10s[40], the Russia v China match and the Maotai Prince Cup China National Chess King & Queen Championships.

In September he won the Chinese Chess King tournament with 5.0/7 points and a 2797 performance.[41]

He made his debut at the 2nd Pearl Spring chess tournament (category 21) in Nanjing. He came third out of six players with 4.5/10 (Elo perf=2735); the tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen.

At the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, in November, Wang was the tenth seed, and defeated Nikolai Kabanov (2-0) and Boris Savchenko (2.5-1.5) before falling to Étienne Bacrot (1.5-3.5) in the third round playoff. His loss was notable in that both he and countryman Li Chao were forfeited from their respective playoff games for tardiness, as they were smoking outside the tournament hall and consequently arrived two minutes late for each player's second playoff game, warranting an automatic forfeiture by the FIDE regulations.[42]

[edit] 2010: Becomes a Top 10 player

In January 2010, he became China's first ever top 10 player on the FIDE rankings. From May 9–25, 2010, he participated in the final FIDE Grand Prix in Astrakhan, but failed to qualify for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2012.[43][44]

[edit] China Chess League

Wang Yue plays for Tianjin chess club in the China Chess League (CCL).[45]

[edit] Future events

Events for 2010 include:[46]

Final FIDE Grand Prix in Astrakhan from May 9–25, 2010.

[edit] Rating

Wang entered the FIDE Top 20 Juniors list as #19 on April 2005 with a rating of 2576. He was in the top 10 from July 2006, and the top 5 from January 2007. He reached a peak ranking of #3 during the July-October 2007 rating periods.

He entered the FIDE Top 100 Players list as #84 on July 2006 with a rating of 2626 and has been in the top 100 since.

He broke into the Top 25 as #22 with a then highest rating of 2703 on October 2007, which was the first time a Chinese chess player had passed the 2700 mark since the introduction of the FIDE ratings system in 1970.[47]

As of January 2009, Wang's Elo rating is 2739, making him China's #1 and #13 on the FIDE world rating list.[48]

For 2005, he played 53 classical games (+15,-4,=34, 2562 average opponent) with a 2636 performance placing 79th in the world.[49]

For 2006, he played 95 classical games (+28,-11,=56, 2593 av op) with a 2656 performance placing 50th.[50]

For 2007, he played 68 classical games (+24,-4,=40, 2608 av op) with a 2713 performance placing 20th.[51]

For 2008, he played 101 classical games (+32,-3,=66, 2645 av op) having a 2748 performance placing 8th.[52]

Rating (World Ranking) progress table

Year Jan Apr Jul Sep Oct Nov1999 n/a n/a 2344 (3969) n/a n/a n/a2000 2437 (1229) n/a 2440 (1173) n/a 2440 (1194) n/a2001 2439 (1240) 2439 (1250) 2466 (870) n/a 2466 (894) n/a2002 2454 (1059) 2454 (1078) 2455 (901) n/a 2495 (642) n/a2003 2492 (690) 2498 (648) 2509 (540) n/a 2509 () n/a2004 2493 () 2499 (646) 2525 (367) n/a 2536 (378) n/a2005 2549 (306) 2576 (207) 2576 (216) n/a 2585 (179) n/a2006 2599 (148) 2598 (147) 2626 (84) n/a 2644 (62) n/a2007 2644 (61) 2656 (50) 2696 (22) n/a 2703 (22) n/a2008 2698 (25) 2689 (31) 2704 (29) n/a 2736 (11) n/a2009 2739 (13) 2738 (14) 2736 (13) 2736 (15) n/a 2734 (15)

2010 2749 (9) - - - - -

[edit] Online chess

His Internet Chess Club handle is yueyue, listed as one of the 30 best ever blitz players on the system.[53]

[edit] Playing style

Described as a highly technical, consistent and solid player he has a preference for the endgame where he seeks to slowly grind down his opponents with a slight advantage. In February 2009 after Corus finished, Teimour Radjabov was quoted in an interview saying, "[Wang Yue] does not allow his opponents to develop counterplay and he exerts "strangulation" style very effectively."[54] Wang has said his childhood idol was José Raúl Capablanca [55] , and once stated that Kramnik has had an influence on his style of play, having been impressed as a 13 year old boy with Kramnik's victory over Kasparov in the London 2000 WCC match. Wang has been given the nickname "Panda" by chess columnist Mig Greengard.[56]

[edit] Openings

Wang usually plays 1.d4 as white, and for black, plays the Sicilian, Berlin or Petroff against e4, and Slav against d4.

[edit] Sample game

a b c d e f g h

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a b c d e f g hWang Yue-R. Ponomariov

Position before 41.Rh1

In 2005, the 17 year-old Wang Yue manages to defeat his first Elo 2700+ opponent, the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov. ([57] Wang Yue (2549) vs Ruslan Ponomariov (2700]) [A40] (Modern Defense); Aeroflot Open 2005, Round 6; 2005-02-20, Moscow, Russia)

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. e4 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. h3 O-O 8. Bd3 Nd7 9. Bg5 h6 10. Be3 exd5 11. exd5 f5 12. Qc2 Nf6 13. O-O g5 14. Rae1 Kh8 15. Bd2 Bd7 16. b3 Nh5 17. a4 Ng6 18. Nb5 Bc8 19. Bc3 a6 20. Bxg7+ Kxg7 21. Nc3 Nhf4 22. Ne2 Qf6 23. Nxf4 Nxf4 24. Re3 Bd7 25. Rfe1 Rf7 26. Bf1 g4 27. hxg4 fxg4 28. Nd2 Raf8 29. Ne4 Qg6 30. b4 Bf5 31. bxc5 Bxe4 32. Qxe4 dxc5 33. g3 Qxe4 34. Rxe4 Ng6 35. Rxg4 h5 36. Rg5 Rf5 37. Rxg6+ Kxg6 38. Bd3 Kg5 39. f4+ Kg4 40. Kg2 R5f7 41. Rh1 1-0 (41. Re5 is stronger as it leads to 41...Rxf4 42. Be2+ Rf3 43. Bxf3+ Rxf3 44. Re4+ Kf5 45. Kxf3)

Viswanathan Anand

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In this Indian name, the name "Viswanathan" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Anand".

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Viswanathan Anand

Full name Viswanathan Anand

Country India

Born11 December 1969 (age 40)

Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India

Title Grandmaster (1988)

World Champion2000–2002 (FIDE)

2007–present (undisputed)

FIDE rating2800

(No. 3 in the September 2010 FIDE World Rankings)

Peak rating 2803 (April 2006, April 2008)

Viswanathan Anand, (Tamil: வி�சுவிநா�தன் ஆனந்த்; pronounced IPA: [ʋiʃʋəˈnyaːtyən ˈaːnənydy]; born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion.

He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and

Match, and also became the fourth player to be undisputed World Champion and hold the world number one ranking at the same time, after Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, and Garry Kasparov. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov. As the reigning champion, he will face the winner of the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2012.

Anand is one of five players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number-one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996. Anand unofficially regained the world number one rating in October 2010 when he defeated Magnus Carlsen in the Bilbao Masters.

In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honor.

Contents

[hide]

1 Personal life 2 Chess career

o 2.1 Early career

o 2.2 World Chess Champion

2.2.1 FIDE World Chess Champion 2000

2.2.2 World Chess Champion 2007

2.2.3 World Chess Champion 2008

2.2.4 World Chess Champion 2010

2.2.5 World Chess Championship 2012

o 2.3 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion 2003

o 2.4 Other results

o 2.5 Rating

3 Personality

4 Controversies

5 Notable tournament victories

6 Awards

7 Sample game

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

[edit] Personal life

Anand was born on 11 December 1969 in Mayiladuthurai, a small town in Tamil Nadu, India in a Tamil Iyer (South Indian Brahmin) family. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Chennai, erstwhile Madras, where he grew up.[1] His father, Viswanathan Iyer, is a retired General Manager of Southern Railways, and his mother Susheela, housewife and chess/film/club aficionado and an influential socialite. He has an elder brother, Shivakumar who is a manager at Crompton Greaves in India and an elder sister Anuradha who is a teacher at the University of Michigan.[2][3] Anand is 11 years younger than his sister and 13 years younger than his brother.

He was taught to play chess by his mother. He described his start in chess in a conversation with Susan Polgar:

I started when I was six. My mother taught me how to play. In fact, my mother used to do a lot for my chess. We moved to the Philippines shortly afterward. I joined the club in India and we moved to the Philippines for a year. And there they had a TV program that was on in the afternoon, one to two or something like that, when I was in school. So she would write down all the games that they showed and the puzzles, and in the evening we solved them together.

Of course my mother and her family used to play some chess, and she used to play with her younger brother, so she had some background in chess, but she never went to a club or anything like that.

So we solved all these puzzles and sent in our answers together. And they gave the prize of a book to the winner. And over the course of many months, I won so many prizes. At one point they just said take all the books you want, but don't send in any more entries.[4]

Anand did his schooling in Don Bosco, Egmore, Chennai and holds a degree in commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. His hobbies are reading, swimming, and listening to music. He is married to Aruna Anand and lives in Collado Mediano in Spain.[5]

In August 2010, Anand joined Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting and supporting the India's elite sportspersons and potential young talent.[6][7][8]

[edit] Chess career

[edit] Early career

Anand's rise in the Indian chess world was meteoric. National level success came early for him when he won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9 in 1983 at the age of fourteen. He became the youngest Indian to win the International Master title at the age of fifteen, in 1984. At the age of sixteen he became the national chess champion and won that title two more times. He played games at blitz speed. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster by winning Shakti Finance International chess tournament held in Coimbatore, India. He was awarded Padma Shri at the age of 18.

Anand at the Manila Olympiad 1992, age 22

"Vishy", as he is sometimes called by his friends, 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, and he continued to play games at blitz speed.

In the World Chess Championship 1993 cycle Anand qualified for his first Candidates Tournament, winning his first match but narrowly losing his quarter-final match to Anatoly Karpov.[9]

In 1994–95 Anand and Gata Kamsky dominated the qualifying cycles for the rival FIDE and PCA world championships. In the FIDE cycle (FIDE World Chess Championship 1996), Anand lost his quarter-final match to Kamsky after leading early.[10] Kamsky went on to lose the 1996 FIDE championship match against Karpov.

In the 1995 PCA cycle, Anand won matches against Oleg Romanishin and Michael Adams without a loss, then avenged his FIDE loss by defeating Gata Kamsky in the Candidates final.[11] In 1995, he played the PCA World Chess Championship 1995 against 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 with a powerful exchange sacrifice, but then lost four of the next five. He lost the match 10½–7½.

In the 1998 FIDE cycle, the reigning champion Karpov was granted direct seeding by FIDE into the final against the winner of the seven-round single elimination Candidates tournament. The psychological and physical advantage gained by Karpov from this decision caused significant controversy, leading to the withdrawal of future World Champion Vladimir Kramnik from the candidates tournament. Anand won the candidates tournament, defeating Michael Adams in the final, and immediately faced a well-rested Karpov for the championship. Despite this tremendous disadvantage for Anand, which he described as being "brought in a coffin" to play Karpov,[12] Anand was able to draw the regular match 3-3, forcing a rapid playoff. However, the rapid playoff was won 2-0 by Karpov, allowing him to defend his FIDE championship.

[edit] World Chess Champion

[edit] FIDE World Chess Champion 2000Main article: FIDE World Chess Championship 2000

After several near misses, Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov 3½–0½ in the final match held at Tehran, thereby becoming the first Indian to win that title.

He failed to defend the title in 2002, losing in the semifinals to Vassily Ivanchuk. The 2002 FIDE world championship was ultimately won by Ruslan Ponomariov. Anand tied for second with Peter Svidler in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 with 8½ points out of 14 games, 1½ points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov.

[edit] World Chess Champion 2007Main article: World Chess Championship 2007

In September 2007 Anand became World Champion again by winning that year's FIDE World Championship Tournament held in Mexico City. He won the double round-robin tournament with a final score of 9 out of 14 points, a full point ahead of joint second place finishers Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand.

In 2000, when Anand won the FIDE World Championship, there was also the rival "Classical" World Championship, held by Kramnik. By 2007, the world championship had been reunified, so Anand's victory in Mexico City made him undisputed World Chess Champion. He became the first undisputed champion to win the title in a tournament, rather than in matchplay, since Mikhail Botvinnik in 1948.

In October 2007, Anand said he liked the double round robin championship format (as used in the 2007 championship in Mexico City), and that the right of Kramnik to automatically challenge for the title was "ridiculous".[13]

[edit] World Chess Champion 2008Main article: World Chess Championship 2008

Anand convincingly defended the title against Kramnik in the World Chess Championship 2008 held between October 14 and October 29 in Bonn, Germany. The winner was to be the first to score 6½ points in the twelve-game match.[14] Anand won by scoring 6½ points in 11 games, having won three of the first six games (two with the black pieces).[15] After the tenth game, Anand led 6–4 and needed only a draw in either of the last two games to win the match. In the eleventh game, Kramnik played the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Once the players traded queens, Kramnik offered a draw after 24 moves since he had no winning chances in the endgame.[16]

Anand vs. Kramnik, 2008 World Championship

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g hFinal position of the match

Final GameAnand,V (2783) – Kramnik,V (2772)

WCh Bonn GER (11), 29.10.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0–0–0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 ½–½[17]

On his winning the championship his mother—and his first coach—said "To me, it was like the first chess match he won in a school tournament. It's just the same, only the degree has changed." [18]

Responding to Anand's win, Garry Kasparov said "A great result for Anand and for chess. Vishy deserved the win in every way and I'm very happy for him. It will not be easy for the younger generation to push him aside... Anand out-prepared Kramnik completely. In this way it reminded me of my match with Kramnik in London 2000. Like I was then, Kramnik may have been very well prepared for this match, but we never saw it." [19] In 2010 Anand donated his gold medal to the charitable organisation "The Foundation" to be auctioned off for the benefit of underprivileged children.[20]

[edit] World Chess Champion 2010Main article: World Chess Championship 2010

Prior to the World Chess Championship 2010, Anand, who had booked on the flight Frankfurt-Sofia on April 16, was stranded due to the cancellation of all flights following the volcano ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull. Anand asked for a three day postponement, which the Bulgarian organisers refused on April 19. Anand eventually reached Sofia on April 20, after an exhausting 40-hour road journey.[21] Consequently, the first game was delayed by one day.[22]

The match consisted of 12 games. After 11 games the score was tied at 5½-5½. Anand won game 12 on the Black side of a Queen's Gambit Declined to win the match and retain the World Championship. In game 12, after Topalov's dubious 31st and 32nd moves, Anand was able to achieve a strong attack against Topalov's relatively exposed king. Topalov subsequently resigned.

[edit] World Chess Championship 2012Main article: World Chess Championship 2012

As a result of Anand's victory in the World Chess Championship 2010, he will defend his title in the World Chess Championship 2012, tentatively scheduled to be held in London, England. His opponent will be the winner of the Candidates Matches to be played in 2011.

[edit] FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion 2003

In October 2003, the governing body of chess, FIDE, organized a rapid time control tournament in Cap d'Agde [23] [24] and billed it as the World Rapid Chess Championship. Each player had 25 minutes at the start of the game, with an additional ten seconds after each move. Anand won this event ahead of ten of the other top twelve players in the world, beating Kramnik in the final. His main recent titles in this category are at: Corsica (six years in a row from 1999 through 2005), Chess Classic (nine years in a row from 2000 through 2008), Leon 2005, Eurotel 2002, Fujitsu Giants 2002 and the Melody Amber (five times, and he won the rapid portion of Melody Amber seven times). In the Melody Amber 2007, Anand did not lose a single game in the rapid section, and scored 8½ /11, two more than the runners-up, for a performance in the rapid section of 2939.[25] In most tournament time control games that Anand plays, he has more time left than his opponent at the end of the game. He lost on time in one game, to Gata Kamsky. Otherwise, he took advantage of the rule allowing players in time trouble to use dashes instead of the move notation during the last four minutes only once, in the game Anand versus Svidler at the MTel Masters 2006.[26]

[edit] Other results

Anand won three consecutive Advanced Chess tournaments in Leon, Spain, after Garry Kasparov introduced this form of chess in 1998, and is widely recognized as the world's best Advanced Chess player, where humans may consult a computer to aid in their calculation of variations.

Anand has won the Chess Oscar in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a worldwide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64.

His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001.

Anand's recent tournament successes include the Corus chess tournament in 2006 (tied with Veselin Topalov), Dortmund in 2004, and Linares in 2007 and 2008. He has won the annual event Monaco Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. He is also the only player to win the blind and rapid sections of the Amber tournament in the same year (twice: in 1997 and 2005). He is the first player to have achieved victories in each of the three big chess supertournaments: Corus (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006), Linares (1998, 2007, 2008), Dortmund (1996, 2000, 2004).

In 2007 he won the Grenkeleasing Rapid championship, which he won for the tenth time defeating Armenian GM Levon Aronian. Incidentally, just a few days before Aronian had defeated Anand in the Chess960 final.

In March 2007, Anand won the Linares chess tournament and it was widely believed that he would be ranked world No.1 in the FIDE Elo rating list for April 2007. However, Anand was placed No.2 in the initial list released because the Linares result was not included. FIDE subsequently announced that the Linares results would be included after all,[27] making Anand number one in the April 2007 list.[28]

Anand won the Mainz 2008 Supertournament Championship by defeating rising star Magnus Carlsen, earning his eleventh title in that event.[29]

[edit] Rating

In the April 2007 FIDE Elo rating list, Anand was ranked first in the world for the first time,[30] and (as of July 2008) he held the number one spot in all ratings lists but one since then until July 2008, the exception being the January 2008 list, where he was rated #2 behind Vladimir Kramnik (equal rating, but Kramnik held the #1 spot due to more games played).[31] He dropped to #5 in the October 2008 list, the first time he had been outside the top 3 since July 1996.[32]

In 2010, Anand announced that he would increase his tournament schedule, beginning in late 2010, in an effort to regain the world number-one ranking from Magnus Carlsen.[33][34]

[edit] Personality

Anand has been viewed as an unassuming, benevolent person with a reputation of refraining from political and psychological ploys as much as possible in order to focus solely on the chessboard.[12] This has made him a well-liked figure throughout the chess world for two decades, evidenced by the fact that Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen, all rivals for the World Championship throughout Anand's career, each aided him in

preparing for the World Chess Championship 2010.[35][36] Anand is sometimes known as the 'Tiger of Madras'.[37]

[edit] Controversies

Anand's was denied honorary doctrate on confusions over his citizenship, however later Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development apologised and said "There is no issue on the matter as Anand has agreed to accept the degree at a convenient time depending on his availability".[38] But as per Hindu's news told that Anand finally refused to accept the doctorate.

[edit] Notable tournament victories

This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links , or by improving the article's layout. (April 2010)

1986 Arab-Asian International Chess Championship 1st 1987 Sakthi Finance Grandmasters Chess Tournament 1st

1988 51st Hoogovens Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1st

1989 2nd Asian Active Chess Championship, Hong Kong 1st

1990 Asian Zonal Championship Gold Medal

1990 Manchester Chess Festival, Manchester 1st

1990 Triveni Super Grandmasters Tournament, Delhi Joint 1st

1991 World Chess Championship, Brussels Quarter Finalist

1992 Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament, Reggio Emilia 1st

1992 Goodrich Open International Tournament, Calcutta 1st

1992 Linares match Anand vs Vassily Ivanchuk 5:3

1992 Alekhine Memorial, Moscow

1993 PCA Interzonal, Groningen 1st

1994 Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco 1st

1994 World Championship Candidates Cycle, Linares

1994 PCA Grand Prix, Moscow 1st

1995 PCA Candidates Final, Las Palmas

1996 Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund (Joint 1st with Kramnik)

1996 Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva 1st

1996 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon

1997 Torneo de Ajedrex, Dos Hermanes 1st.

1997 Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco 1st

1997 Aegon Man vs Computers chess event won 4:2

1997 Chess Classic Rapid Tournament, Frankfurt

1997 Invesbanka Chess tournament, Belgrade 1st

1997 Credit Suisse Classic Tournament, Biel 1st

1997 Knock-Out Championship, Groningen

1998 FIDE World Chess Championship Finalist

1998 60th Hoogoven's Schaak Tornoi, Wijk aan Zee 1st

1998 Torneo International De Ajedrez, Linares 1st

1998 Torneo Magitral Communidad De Madrid, Madrid 1st

1998 Siemens Nixdorf Duell (Rapid), Frankfurt 1st

1998 Fontys-Tilburg International Chess Tournament 1st

1999 Wydra Memorial Chess (Rapid), Haifa 1st

1999 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon beat Karpov 5:1

2000 Wydra International Tournament (Rapid), Haifa 1st

2000 Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez, Leon beat Shirov 1½:½

2000 Fujitsu Siemens Giants Chess (Rapid), Frankfurt 1st

2000 Corsica Masters (Rapid), Corsica 1st

[edit] Awards

Anand has received many national and international awards.

Arjuna award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess in 1985 Padma Shri , National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1987

The inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour in the year 1991–1992.

British Chess Federation 'Book of the Year' Award in 1998 for his book My Best Games of Chess

Padma Bhushan in 2000

Jameo de Oro the highest honour given by the Government of Lanzarote in Spain on 25 April 2001. The award is given to illustrious personalities with extraordinary achievements.

Chess Oscar (1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009)

Sportstar Millennium Award in 1998, from India's premier Sports magazine for being the sportperson of the millennium

Padma Vibhushan in 2007

[edit] Sample game

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g hIn this position after move 36 in the 2000 FIDE World Championship game between Viswanathan

Anand and Victor Bologan, Anand (White), in an apparently worse position, finds an intuitive sacrifice that leads to a winning attack.

On his way to winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, Anand (White) defeated Grandmaster Viktor Bologan (Black). Here are the moves (analysis by Grandmaster Ľubomír Ftáčnik):

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 c5 15. d5 c4 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Nf5 Kh8 18. g4 Ng8 19. Qd2 Nc5 20. Be3 Bc8 21. Ng3 Rb8 22. Kg2 a5 23. a3 Ne7 24. Rh1 Ng6 25. g5! b4!? Anand has an excellent kingside attack, so Bologan seeks counterplay with the sacrifice of a pawn. 26. axb4 axb4 27. cxb4 Na6 28. Ra4 Nf4+ 29. Bxf4 exf4 30. Nh5 Qb6 31. Qxf4 Nxb4 32. Bb1 Rb7 33. Ra3 Rc7 34. Rd1 Na6 35. Nd4 Qxb2 36. Rg3 c3 (see diagram) 37. Nf6!! Re5 If 37...gxf6, 38. gxf6 h6 39. Rg1! Qd2! 40. Qh4 leaves white with an irresistible initiative. 38. g6! fxg6 39. Nd7 Be7 40. Nxe5 dxe5 41. Qf7 h6 42. Qe8+ 1–0 [39] (White forces mate in 12 moves if the game were to continue with 42... Bf8 43. Rf3 Qa3 44. Rxf8+ Qxf8 45. Qxf8+ Kh7 46. d6 exd4 47. Ba2 h5 48. dxc7 Nb4 49. Qg8+ Kh6 50. f4 g5 51. f5 g4 52. h4 Bxf5 53. exf5 Nxa2 54. Qh8#)

[edit] See also

List of chess games between Anand and Kramnik