Chess: Anand’s winning spree

Vishwanathan Anand has just retained his World Chess Championships. But what is not known is that he has literally dominated all forms of Chess that is played i.e from rapid format chess to classical chess. Here is a list of wins of Anand from the yer 2000 onwards

2008: Undisputed World Championship title, beating Vladimir Kramnik 6.5-4.5 in Bonn.

2008: 13th Grenkeleasing Rapid World Chess, Mainz, Germany Champion

2008: Morelia Linares Champion second time in a row: With this win, Anand has ensured that the No.1 ranking was solely his

2007: World Chess Championship, Mexico City, World Champion

2007: World Rapid Championship, Mainz Champion

2007: 20th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament, Leon Champion

2007: Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament, Champion

2006: Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament, Moscow Champion

2006 : Grenkeleasing World Rapid Champ’s, Mainz Classic, Champion

2006: 19th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament, Leon

2006 : 15th Amber Blindfold & Rapid Chess Tournament Joint Champion

2006 : Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee Champion: Made history by becoming the only player ever to win this tournament a record five times

2005: World Chess Championship, San Luis, finished Runner-Up to Topalov

2005: Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz Champion: Took the title for the fifth year in a row

2005: 18th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament, Leon Champion

2004: Corsica Masters, Bastia Champion: Anand won Corsica for the fifth year in succession

2004: Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz Champion: Anand was Champion at Mainz or seventh time

2004: Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund Champion

2004: Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee Champion

2003: Corsica Masters, Bastia Champion

2003 : World Rapid Chess Championship, Cap D’Agde Champion

2003: Rapid Chess Classic, Mainz Champion

2003: Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund Runner-Up

2003: 12th Amber Chess Tournament, Monte Carlo Champion

2003: Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee Champion

2002: 6th Corsica Masters Rapid Chess Tournament, Corsica Champion

2002: World Cup, Hyderabad Champion

2002: Russia Vs Rest of the World, Moscow Champion, anchored the Rest of the World team to a historic victory in this unique event

2002: Chess Classic, Mainz Champion

2002: Eurotel World Chess Trophy, Prague Champion

2001: Corsica Masters, Corsica Champion

2001: “Duel of the Champions” Champion, Beat Kramnik in a rapid game match 6.5-5.5

2001: “Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez”, Leon Champion

2001: 2nd Torneo Magistral, Mexico City Champion

2000: FIDE World Championships, Teheran and New Delhi World Champion – Beat Alexei Shirov in the final (3.5-0.5)

2000: FIDE World Cup, Shenyeng Champion – Beat Bareev 1.5-0.5 in the final to register his best ever result in a FIDE event

2000 : Fujitsu Siemens Giants Rapid Chess, Frankfurt Champion

2000 : “Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez”, Leon Champion Won in Leon for the second straight year, beating Shirov 1.5-0.5 in the final

2000: Wydra International Tournament, Haifa Champion

2000: Plus GSM World Blitz Chess Cup, Warsaw Champion

Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament

Vishwanathan Anand beat Kramnik in the rapid game in the first round of Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament being held in Nice, France. After drawing with Vladimir Kramnik in the opening blindfold game, world champion Viswanathan Anand [ defeated the Russian in their rapid match in the first round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament in Nice, France [

Anand emerged as a joint leader in the rapid and combined standings after beating Kramnik.

In the rapid, the Indian is joined by Armenia’s Levon Aronian while in the combined standings it is a five-way lead between, Anand, Aronian, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Ukrainians Vassily Ivanchuk and Sergey Karjakin.

It was in the return game that the Indian ace proved superior to Kramnik after the latter slipped from a position of strength.

It was a Queen’s Indian defense where Anand played black and Kramnik looked in control when the middle game commenced.

The Indian ace had to find counteractive measures on the king side amidst wild complexities when Kramnik missed the thread of the position and found his king in a checkmate web.

It was a picturesque finish as Anand sacrificed his queen to force matters. The game lasted 43 moves.

Earlier, playing the white side of a Petroff defense in the first game of the tournament, Anand followed the variation he had played against Kramnik some time back but the Russian, who is also the defending champion here, was adequately prepared and drew without much ado.

The event is being played on a round-robin basis between 12 players. Each players plays against the other twice in blindfold and then in rapid and the combined score is taken to decide the winner