The Sydney Morning Herald
Tiger's third title crowns chess rebirth
Matt Wade Herald Correspondent in New Delhi October 31, 2008 Advertisement
INDIA is celebrating after one of its favourite sportsmen, the chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, was crowned world champion for the third time.
Anand beat a Russian challenger, Vladimir Kramnik, after a draw in the 11th game of the 12-game world championship series in Germany. Anand's previous three wins in the series gave him an unbeatable lead.
"I've given one of my best-ever performances here in Bonn," Anand said after being presented the champion's trophy on Wednesday night.
Anand's achievements have created huge interest in the game in India, and the 38-year-old's triumph received front-page coverage in the country's newspapers. Dubbed the "Tiger from Madras" by his many Indian fans, Anand is credited with helping to end the postwar domination of international chess by players from the former Soviet Union and Russia. His previous world championship wins, in 2000 and last year, were played under different formats, underscoring his versatility as a player.
Anand has been a celebrity in India since 1988, when he became the country's first chess grandmaster at the age of 18. India now has 16 grandmasters.
Anand's popularity has also made him a valuable commercial property. He promotes India's NIIT Group, one of the country's biggest computer training and software services firms.
The president of the All-India Chess Federation, N. Srinivasan, said Anand's win was like a Diwali gift - a reference to the popular Hindu festival celebrated this week. The involvement of Mr Srinivasan in chess highlights its clout in India. He is one of India's best-known industrialists and a member of India's peak cricket body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He also owns the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings.
Dibyendu Barua, a chess grandmaster and head of the Chess Players Association of India, said Anand had become an "icon of Indian chess".
"Playing chess has become a status symbol here in India thanks to Anand," he said.
-- My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty. - Jorge Louis Borges