Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster who is a five-time world champion. He is known for his attacking, solid, intuitive, and calm playing styles. Anand has been titled "Lightning Kid" for the speed with which he calculates complex chess moves. At age 17, Anand became the first Asian to win a world chess title. In 1991, Anand won his first major international chess tournament, finishing ahead of World Champion Garry Kasparov and former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Anand's first attempt to win FIDE's world chess championship ended in 1991 when he lost in the quarter-finals of the FIDE Knockout World Chess Championship. In 1998, Anand lost to Karpov in a series of "quick chess" tie-break games to win the match. Anand broke through in 2000, winning the FIDE World Chess Championship. Most fans did not recognize Anand, or any of the other FIDE champions since Kasparov, as legitimate. Anand finally achieved his place in the list of generally recognized world chess champions with his victory in 2007. He defended the title against "classical" World Chess Champion Kramnik in a 12-game match in 2008. In 2010, Anand retained his title as world champion in 2010, defeating Veselin Topalov in the 12th and final game of their match. In 2012, he faced Boris Gelfand of Israel in the championship match, but Anand won the rapid tiebreaker round to remain world champion. In 2013, Anand defended his title in 2013 against Magnus Carlsen of Norway.