Viswanathan Anand, a chess master and former world champion, splits his time between India and Spain. He is known in the world of chess for his fast calculations and his moves, and throughout India for his commitment to social causes. In his country, he is admired for being one of the best Indian athletes as well as a great, humble man.
Anand's career is an example of hard work and self-improvement as a chess master. In 1984 he became the youngest player in India to obtain the title of International Master. In 1985 he became national champion at the age of 16 and in 1987, the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship and become Grandmaster. In 2000 Anand became FIDE World Champion and in 2007, the first Indian and Asian World Champion.
Viswanathan Anand splits his time between Chennai, his hometown in India, and Collado Mediano, a town in the mountains of Madrid where he trains part of the year. In January 2001, Collado Mediano named him Adoptive Child. As a great international athlete living in India and Spain, Anand acts as a bridge between the societies of the two countries.
The chess player is a celebrity in India, where he's been chosen Athlete of the Year several times. In 2007 he received the second-highest civilian in India, the Padma Vibhushan, and became the first athlete to receive it in the history of his country.
Image gallery.
_.jpg)
