The Grand Master of checks and checkmates, India’s Vishwanathan Anand, won for the third time the World Chess Championship title in the classical format at the tournament in Bonn with the help of a draw after the 24th move in his 11th game with Vladimir Kramnik. He finished with 6.5 points against Kramnik’s 4.5 points.

Vishwanathan Anand became the king of 64 squares, as the chessboard is called because of the black and white squares across the board, by establishing his supremacy in all formats of chess championships. He is the only Grand Master who has won blitz, rapid, knockout, tournament and match play formats of chess.

With this he has entered the league of chess legends such as Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer. In fact, he has surpassed all of them. With this, he has also become the only non-Russian other than Bobby Fischer to trounce a Russian in match play.

The comprehensive win in all formats of chess makes Vishwanathan Anand the greatest Indian sportsperson ever. The other contender for this slot, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, is yet to register a World Cup win.

For Vishwanathan Anand, winning has been a passion ever since he won his first chess championship title in 1987. He not only became the first Asian to become the world junior champion but also became the world’s youngest Grand Master at age 18!

Vishwanathan Anand is the only Indian sportsperson to have consistently retained his position in a sport for 21 years. He was formally ranked “World No.1” in 2007.

For a young boy who was taught chess by his mother, Vishwanathan Anand has come a long way. He has become the undisputed king of international chess.

This is a huge win and it is sure to inspire the second rung chess masters of India to root for international chess championship titles in the time to come.