GM Viswanathan Anand - 2004 Review
"I just won everything I played. That is an awesome feeling."-Viswanathan
Anand
World No.2 and three time chess Oscar winner, Viswanathan Anand
has
rounded off yet another year of superlative performances. If 2003
proclaimed him as the undisputed king of Rapid chess, in 2004 the
NIIT Mind Champion went on to win all the classical events he played
in.
Starting his winning streak at the prestigious Corus Chess tournament
in Wijk Aan Zee, Anand put in a power packed performance to win
the event for the second year consecutively. By winning the event
Anand joined a select club of people like Euwe and Kortchnoi who
have won the event four times in the Event's 66 year old history.
Anand was able to break away from the pack by a winning streak of
three games. His game against Bareev is easily rated as one of his
best wins of the year.
Soon after Corus, Anand played a Blitz match against Vesselin Topalov
in Sofia, Bulgaria. Avenging his only loss at Corus against the
Bulgarian GM, Anand won the match 1.5-.5. His intuition about Topalov's
game gave him the easy edge. Being the 40th country on his much
traveled list, the Indian Chess Maestro thoroughly enjoyed his maiden
visit to Bulgaria.
The Amber Rapid and Blind Chess event is a special event of the
chess calendar. The World Rapid Champion has won the event three
times and is the only player to have won all three categories in
a single year (1997). In 2004, Anand played some very creative chess,
after a little rough patch, he bounced back to beat Ivanchuk and
won the Rapid section of the event and took 3rd place overall.
"I was impatient to win in Dortmund" - Anand. Dortmund
always evokes mixed memories for the Indian Chess wizard. In 2001,
Anand put in a shocking performance finishing at the bottom of the
table. "For me since 2001, I was hungry to come back to Dortmund
and win the event."
In 2004 the event changed it's format and became a knock out. "
I came to the event fully concentrated so as to avoid unnecessary
excitement to qualification. When I defeated Svidler in Round 2
I knew I was on the right course." said the Indian Maestro.
In the knock out stage, Anand played the tie breaks in his indomitable
style defeating Vladimir Kramnik in the finals to pick up his third
Dortmund title. It was his consistency and single minded focus that
helped him clinch the title. "In Mainz, it is a different dynamics.
Somehow I just want to win."
The German summer proved exceptionally successful for Anand. In
Mainz he
went on to batter his own previous record by winning the Mainz Rapid
classic for the fourth time consecutively. This year Anand faced
his old adversary Alexei Shirov. The Spanish Gm had decided to employ
the Marshall defence against the Rapid Champion. Anand who had worked
extensively on the Marshall in Dortmund was able to win two games.
With Black Anand decided to keep switching openings to keep the
opponent playing the guessing game. With this win, once again Anand
proved he was the undisputed king of Speed.
The 41st country on Anand's list is Brazil. Winning the Sao Paolo
masters in style by defeating all opponents at least once. Anand
continued to convince critics of his exemplary form. "I would
say I played very convincing chess in Sao Paolo. My win against
Morovic is one of the best games I played this year. After a short
vacation in Rio, I was totally inspired". Anand won all games
in the second half to win by an awesome three point margin.
"The Olympiad was great fun more than anything else."
- Anand
The highlight of the year was the Chess Olympiad. Representing
his country after a twelve year hiatus. Anand donned the nation's
colours and steered a young team to a successful performance.
"Although the team finished sixth, third place would have
been a very justified result. I enjoyed the experience and the boys
came up on tops. We lost matches by the narrowest margin" Said
the Indian Chess genius.
Another of Anand's favourite chess destination is Corsica. This
year too he proved too hot for the event. He won the event for the
fifth time, only to batter his previous record of four consecutive
wins. 2004 was easily his smoothest win with just one draw and the
rest were just one sided matches.
" I ended the chess circuit in 2004 in the best way possible."-Anand
2004 also proved an exotic year for Anand- the chess tourist. Estonia
became his 42nd country. The land where the legendary chess genius
Paul Keres is the most revered celebrity proved a good hunting ground
for Anand. The Rapid champion proved once again he was unstoppable.
Anand created history by winning the event with a perfect score
of 5/5. Among his victims was the former World Champion Alexander
Khalifman. "For me Estonia was a curious destination both as
a chess player and as a tourist. My play there was very stable and
a perfect score is not what you make everyday. "
Estonia was the last chess event for the year.
The NIIT Mind Champion also proved effective for his German league
team, Baden OOs. He was the top scorer of the last season and is
already on an envious score of 3.5/4 this year.
The Indian Mind Champion is back in India on December 16th for
a brief stop over before training his guns for the prestigious Corus
event in January.
"I played well in 2004 in all formats, not only rapid"-
Anand Looking back at a great year in 2004, Anand said "I am
enjoying every aspect: the travel, the events, my results and most
of all I am playing chess that I think is quite creative. My results
have been very good (I have won every rapid event this year and
also Wijk and Dortmund in the 7 hour variety."
"I think I am in with a good chance to get the 2004 Oscar
"- Anand
In 2004 Anand was awarded the exalted chess Oscars for the third
time (1997, 1998 and 2003) for his excellent play in 2003. Seeing
his perfect record of winning all events in 2004, both in the Rapid
and classical format Anand is a top contender for the 2004 Oscar.
"Every year is special. This is what it's all about: having
a good year and then the acknowledgement of the chess fans and journalists
to confirm it."
Best games of the year
"My wins against Bareev in Wijk and Morovic in Sao Paolo I
would rate as my best. My win against Morozevich at the Olympiad
was also special for psychological reasons."
Anand's schedule for 2005
In 2005, Anand will play in the Corus Chess tournament from 14-30
January. (www.coruschess.com). In 2005, Anand will play in the prestigious
Super Torneo de Linares in Spain from February 22nd to March 10th.
The event will feature the top six players including Garry Kasparov.
Soon after, Anand will participate in the Melody Amber Blind and
Rapid Chess tournament in Monaco from March 19th to April 2nd. In
June he will also participate in the Rapid event in Leon, Spain
that will be held 8th-10th June.
These are the confirmed events and more events will be notified
as and when they get confirmed.
Plans for 2005
"I played well post Prague in 2002. I need to keep the momentum
going. I feel I can still improve my chess knowledge. There are
new areas to work on. I think keeping my curiosity in chess alive
is what sparks my creativity. I think I am enjoying my chess immensely
and I hope to that in the next year too."
Anand will be giving select interviews. Kindly contact Ms. Jasmine
Lazarus - Administration Head, TNQ Sponsorship (India) Private Limited
to slot the interviews.
Contact Numbers:
Tel : +91 44 2445 3811 / 2445 3812
Fax: +91 44 2445 3813
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