India8217;s chess gems

Born on 11-12-69, Anand learned chess from his mother Susheela at six. His father Viswanathan was serving in the Philippines on contract wit...

Born on 11-12-69, Anand learned chess from his mother Susheela at six. His father Viswanathan was serving in the Philippines on contract with a railway assignment when he improved his chess skills in Manila during his formative years.

Back in India, Anand made rapid strides and got into the National A on the strength of his board prize in the National team Championship in 1983. Two years later he became the youngest national champion in 1986 in Mumbai at the age of 16. He won two more national titles to complete the hat-trick at Neyveli in 1988. He had also become the world junior champion and India8217;s first Grandmaster in 1987. Two years later, he became the first Indian and second Asian after Eugenne Torre to qualify as a Candidate from Manila.

Anand won his first round clash against Alexey Dreev of Russia comfortably in Chennai in 1991 and then lost to Karpov narrowly 3.5-4.5. Anand beat Artur Yusupov easily to advance to the quarterfinals again in the next cycle before losing to Kamsky 0-2 in the tiebreaker at Sanghinagar. He is currently the world No 3 in rankings with a rating of 2,765 after Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

Dibyendu Barua

Before Anand, it was wonderkid Dibyendu Barua of West Bengal who stormed Indian chess scene. At age 12, he qualified to play in the National A and at 15, he beat Viktor Korchnoi, the then challenger, in a tournament to hit the headlines. Barua then became the youngest to win the National at age 16 before Anand eclipsed this record in 1983 at Agartala. He was sent to Russia by the Bhilwara Group for further training. Barua he won the gold medal in the Novi Sad Olympiad in 1990 on the top board beating several strong GMs, a feat which even Anand could not achieve. Barua completed his GM title in 1991 in January in the Duncan GM event in Calcutta on the same day Anand won his match against Dreev. The 30-year-old Barua qualified from the Asian zone this year too but in Groningen he lost to Hracek of Czechoslovakia in the first round.

Last year Barua got married to Saheli Dhar, a strong player from Bengal.

Pravin Thipsay

Pravin Thipsay was the first Indian to earn a Grandmaster norm in 1984 when he beat several GMs in the Coomonwealth championship. Yet Thipsay had to wait for more than 12 years to complete his GM title. The 37-year-old Thipsay is India8217;s third GM and was perhaps the strongest player of the country in the early 1980s before Anand came along. He won National titles in 1981, 1982 and 1984.

In 1989, he regained the National A title and won it in 1993 and 1994. His record of six national A titles is only second to that of Manuel Aaron8217;s nine.

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Thipsay came back into his best form in the last two years and won two more GM norms at Calcutta and Dhaka. The Fide world chess federation, taking into consideration his consistent performances, decided to waive the rules and awrd him the status of GM title last year.