By IANS
New Delhi : India’s Viswanathan Anand played a short 20-move draw with Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Leko to become the undisputed world chess champion in Mexico City Saturday night.
This was the second time Anand has won the World Championships, having earlier triumphed in the FIDE World Championships in 2000, when the event was held in New Delhi and Teheran.
“This is obviously a great win, because in between I lost the title for six years,” said Anand in Mexico. “Right now it is time to celebrate and enjoy the win. Other things can wait for a while.”
“I am very proud of the way I played. It was hard work beginning from June to August,” added Anand.
In the years since he last won the World Championships win in 2000, Anand has gone to achieve a lot else in his career.
Here is a quick re-cap of the highlights of Anand’s career since his World Championships win in 2000:
2007:
September 30, Anand wins undisputed world title in Mexico City with 9/14 points; remains unbeaten in eight-man tournament and finishes one point ahead of nearest rival.
In August, Anand won the Grenke Leasing Rapid World Championship in Mainz, Germany defeating Levon Aronian of Armenia in the last game of their four-game match. It was Anand’s 10th title in Mainz.
In July, Anand wins the XX Ciudad de León Chess tournament beating Veselin Topalov 3-1 in the final. It was Anand’s seventh title in Leon.
In March, Anand took first place in the Rapid section and was second overall at the Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament in Monaco.
In February-March, Anand won the Morelia-Linares tile a full point clear of his nearest rivals. The tournament was held in two halves, first in Morelia, Mexico, and the second in Linares, Spain. Took over as World number one in rating for the first time ever.
2006:
Anand won the Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament, Moscow, scoring 23 out of 34 points. Won 11 of 17 mini-matches to win strongest ever Blitz event. Beat nearest rival Aronian by a two-point margin.
Won World Rapid Championship, Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz beating Teimour Radjabov twice on final day to win sixth title in a row at Mainz; his seventh in succession and his ninth Classic win overall, setting a record that is unlikely to be surpassed soon.
Won 19th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament, Leon in the rapid format beating Topalov 2.5-1.5 to win his sixth Title at Leon.
Won the 15th Amber Blindfold & Rapid Chess as Joint Champion, sharing honours with Russia’s Alexander Morozevich. Anand did not lose a single Rapid game.
Won Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee, to become the only player ever to win Corus a record five times! The win also took Anand to 2805 elo ratings, crossing the 2800 for the first time ever. Anand is only the fourth player after Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov to do so.
2005:
Won Chess Oscar for 2004.
Runner-up at World Chess Championship, San Luis, behind winner Topalov.
Won the Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz, for the fifth year in a row, beating Alexander Grischuk of Russia 5-2 in the final.
Won 18th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament, Leon, beating FIDE champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan 2.5-1.5.
2004:
Won Chess Oscar for 2003.
Won Corsica Masters, Bastia, for the fifth year in succession for his fourth major title of the year. Beat Rublevsky 2-0 in the final.
Won the Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz, beating Shirov 4.5 – 2.5 to don Black Jacket for fourth straight year. This was Anand’s seventh win in Mainz.
Won the Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund, Rapid title, beating Kramnik.
Won the Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee. It was his fourth win after 1989, 1998 and 2002 at Wijk Aan Zee.
2003:
Won Corsica Masters, Bastia, for the fourth time in it’s seventh year.
Won World Rapid Chess Championship, Cap D’Agde, beating Kramnik in the final.
Won Rapid Chess Classic, Mainz, beating Judit Polgar 5-3 in a thrilling finish.
Won 12th Amber Chess Tournament, Monte Carlo, to become the first player ever to win three unshared (Rapid, Blindfold and Overall) titles beating Kramnik’s record of two unshared and two shared titles.
Won Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee, half a point ahead of Judit Polgar
2002:
Won the sixth Corsica Masters Rapid Chess Tournament, Corsica. Completed a hat-trick in Corsica by coming from behind to beat Anatoly Karpov 4-2
Won the World Cup in Hyderabad beating Uzbek Grandmaster Kasimdzhanov.
Led rest of the World team to unique win over Russia in Moscow.
Won Chess Classic, Mainz, beating world champion Ruslan Ponomariov 4.5-3.5.
Won 2002 Eurotel World Chess Trophy, Prague, where he beat Timman (2-0), Khalifman (2-0), Sokolov (1.5-0.5), Ivanchuk (2.5-1.5) and Karpov (1.5-0.5) in final.
2001:
Won Corsica Masters beating Alexander Chernin to successfully defend his title.
Won the “Duel of the Champions” beating Kramnik in a rapid game match.
Won “Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez”, Leon, beating Shirov 2.5-1.5 in the final to win in Leon for the third straight year.
Won second Torneo Magistral, Mexico City, one point ahead of his challengers in a four-player field (Anand, Short, Khalifman and Hernandez).
2000:
Won the NIIT FIDE World Championships played in New Delhi and Teheran beating Alexei Shirov in the final (3.5-0.5).
Won the FIDE World Cup, Shenyeng, beating Bareev 1.5-0.5 in the final.
Won the Fujitsu Siemens Giants Rapid Chess, Frankfurt, with a round to spare.
Won “Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez”, Leon, beating Shirov 1.5-0.5 in the final.
Won the Wydra International Tournament, Haifa.
Won the Plus GSM World Blitz Chess Cup, Warsaw, with 17.5 Points in 22 games, beating the likes of Karpov, Gelfand and Svidler on the way.