Anand, Viswanathan, << AH nand, vish WAH nah thahn >> (1969-…), became the first Indian to win the world chess championship. Anand won the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) world title in 2000 by defeating Alexi Shirov of Spain. FIDE, also called the World Chess Federation, is the organization that governs chess internationally. Other organizations declared other players as world champions from 1993 to 2006, however. Anand was the undisputed world chess champion from 2007 until 2013. In 2013, he lost the championship to Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen .
Anand was born on Dec. 11, 1969, in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu. He spent part of his childhood in Manila, Philippines. Anand’s mother taught him to play chess as a child. He won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship in 1983 at the age of 14. In 1984, at the age of 15, Anand became the youngest Indian to win the title of international master. Anand won his first Indian chess championship in 1986. In 1987, he won the World Junior Championship. He was the first Indian to do so. In 1988, while still in his teens, he became India’s first chess grandmaster. Anand wrote the book My Best Games of Chess (1998; expanded in 2001).
