With his lightning fast moves and his uncanny ability to topple the best of champions, Anand has taken the game to dizzy heights. More than that, he has motivated a generation of serious-minded young people to take up the sport and excel in it. For the likes of D.V. Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy and Tanya Singh he is the role model who constantly inspires them with his incredible feats.

Apart from American Bobby Fischer who won the world championship in 1972 Anand is the only non-Russian to come close to winning the world title twice, his latest victory came at the Mainz Championship where he annihilated the formidable Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

Anand, started 2001 with some incredible performances. He also won the advance chess title in Leon for an unprecedented third time in a row and for good measure added a title in Merida in Mexico. But the star performance came in the Duel of the Champions in the all-important Chess Classic of Mainz in Germany in June. Pitted against Kramnik, who had pulled ahead of him in terms of ratings, Anand warded off an early challenge and won this duel played over a 10-game rapid format.

Inspite of the hype that surrounds him, the chess prodigy prefers to maintain a low profile and let his game do all the talking. His winning the world title last year and Mainz Championship this year is the culmination of a long journey which started when he was taught the first moves by his mother, Sushila Vishwanathan.

Seeing his obsessive love for the game his parents decided to encourage him in his pursuits. His father who was posted as a consultant in the Philippines was his constant source of motivation. He arranged for Anand�s trip to the Philippines for the World Junior Championships at his own expense.

Anand�s first brush with success came as early as 1983 when he first won the sub-junior championship, the same year he annexed the national junior chess championship which was an extraordinary feat in itself. For the next two years, he won the National Championship and simultaneously the Asian Junior Championship. At 15, he was the country�s youngest International Grand Master. By the time Anand won his second national championship, he was already touted as the world's fastest rising star of chess.

Anand returned to the Philippines in 1987 as a strong contender for the World Junior championships. True to his reputation, he won the title comprehensively in the process becoming the first Indian Grand Master which he has remained for 14 long years. Philippines was a happy hunting ground for Anand. In 1990 he qualified for the candidates cycle of the World Championship after winning the Manila Interzonals.

Anand's fame as the next chess prodigy after Bobby Fischer grew and so also his impressive array of titles. In mid 1987 he touched a rating of 2500, and in just another year and a half, he was past 2600. In 1992 he became only the eighth player in the world to cross a rating of 2700. And in the same year won the world�s highest rated tournament in Reggio Emila where he out-manoeuvred the great Gary Kasparov. His moment of glory came in 2000 when he won the FIDE World Championship title, becoming the first ever Indian to do so.

His string of grand successes continued with a slew of titles the latest being the much awaited clash of titans between Anand and Kramnik in Mainz. True to its hype the clash turned out to be a humdinger of contest. After ten games each of the contestants were tied at five each and the contenders decided to go for the tie-break, which Anand won in the 'rapid and blitz' reaffirming his supremacy as the world�s best player in this format. He also became the first non-Russian after Bobby Fisher to have won the title.

" It was an extremely tough challenge at Mainz. Kramnik is an excellent player, he is full of energy and tries to demolish the opposition very early in the game. It feels really great to defeat a powerful player like him," says Anand.

Now, the champion has decided to take a few months break and mentally prepare himself for his next big challenge---defending his FIDE world title, where some of the greatest chess players will participate. However, missing from the action would be names like Gary Kaparov and Antoly Karpov who are affiliated with ICA, the rival chess body. In the absence of such great players, will not the validity of the winners be under cloud?

No, says Anand, " Nobody can put a gun on their heads to play against me. But apart from them there would be around 180 of the world�s best chess players battling for the title. The FIDE championship is no cakewalk."

From India there will be 18 participants, a record of sorts. Says Anand, " It's really a very healthy sign that so many youngsters are attracted to chess. Much of it has got to do with the popularity of the rapid chess format and the wealth of information that kids have from the internet about chess. When I started there were hardly any sponsors, now many business houses are eager to sponsor a chess player."

About the latest wonder kid G.V. Harikrishna, Anand says, " though he started earlier than I did, I still feel that he has the potential to become one of the greatest chess players India has ever produced."

While, trying to stay clear of the controversy surrounding the elections to the Indian Chess Federation, Anand says that, he is grateful to the Chess Federation for the encouragement that they are giving to the young players to come forward.

With so many titles under his belt and many more to come, what keeps this mind champion going. " Relaxation. That's the key for me. When I am not playing I spend all the time with my family and I listen to music. Pet Shop Boys and U2 are my favourite groups."

His strict schedule leaves little room for family life but whenever he gets time, he manages to sneak in few moments with his wife, Aruna over a cup of coffee or his all time-time favourite Rasam and Sambar rice.

The two of them like to live a quiet life devoid of the glitz and glamour normally associated with a celebrity. "We are just like any other couple, very homely. Even though Spain is our second home, we are complete Indians in our habits and have not adopted the western culture," says wife Aruna.

" He's a very quiet and a withdrawn person, and I respect that. He never shows any signs of stress or tension so much associated with chess," she adds.

Right from the days when he won the Grand master norm when he was 15, Anand has lived and breathed chess. His love for the game in so intense that he can talk about it for hours, discussing his every move in detail.

Anand's upbringing and his parents' focus on discipline has played a crucial role in making Vishwanathan the Champion he is today. In an interview with Shobha Warrier, Vishwanathan's father told her, "My father was a strict disciplinarian, and I guess I imbibed that trait from him. Discipline played a big role in my doing well in life, and I think that is true of my three children as well. My elder son, Shivakumar, is Chief Design Engineer with Crompton Greaves, and my daughter, Anuradha, did her MBA at IIM Calcutta. She got married, went off to the United States, did a doctorate in Corporate Management and now teaches at Michigan University. And now my youngest son, Anand, is world chess champion!"

Today, the sophisticated, mild-mannered and articulate Anand is being seen as one of the greatest chess prodigies. He may neither have the braggadocio of a Bobby Fischer nor the aplomb of Gary Kasparov or even the guile of Antoly Karpov. But in chess he is the master of the game. A young man whose rise in the sport has been a source of inspiration to an entire generation of young Indian chess players.