GM Viswanathan Anand - 2004 Review and first half of 2005

"I just won everything I played. That is an awesome feeling,” said Viswanathan Anand, when asked to comment on the year 2004.

Into 2005, the feelings and euphoria of 2004 continued as Anand was adjudged winner of the Chess Oscar for 2004, the results of which became known only in 2005. Anand finished way ahead of his arch-rival Garry Kasparov for the second straight year. It was Anand’s fourth Chess Oscar and he is the first non-Russian to win it four times.

In 2005, Anand made a clean sweep of titles at the Melody Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament, winning all three sections. It was the second time, such a feat had been achieved and it was Anand himself who did it on the earlier occasion.

Anand also won the Leon Rapid Chess title once again. In the past, Anand had won the Advanced title three times in a row from 1999 to 2001.

In classical chess, Anand was second in two events (Corus GM in Wijk Aan Zee and M-Tel Masters in Sofia) and third in Linares, Spain.

World No.2 and three time chess Oscar winner, Viswanathan Anand had rounded off yet another year of superlative performances in 2004. 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," said Anand after exorcising the ghost of Dortmund. The venue 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 was 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," said 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."

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 this year, too."