Viswanathan Anand, popularly known as "Vishy, the Tiger from Madras" learnt chess at the age of six. His lightning speed of play and intuition saw him through as the Youngest National Champion at the age of 16. In 1987 he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Championship. He also earned the coveted Grandmaster title.
Anand has been awarded many prestigious titles in India like the Arjuna Award, the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Anand, known as the "One Man Indian Chess Revolution," keenly promotes the game, through innovative methods in the country, where the game first originated.
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