Meet

THE NEW

WORLD

CHAMPION

2007

Take a bow, Vishwanathan Anand!

“ Since becoming the world junior champion and India’s first Grandmaster, both in 1987, Anand has scripted a silent revolution in chess in India. He is also responsible for transforming sports journalism in the country by obliging the news media to cover the most cerebral of sports competently. Today India has 15 Grandmasters and several age-group champions in world and continental meets; and every schoolchild knows who provided the inspiration. In an age of ephemeral celebrity-worship and incessant hype in the world of sport, Anand stands, solitary and tall, on a summit that no other Indian sportsperson is going to reach in

a long while. ” from THE HINDU’s Editorial tribute on Oct 2, 2007