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    India's grandmasters · the road to the title

    Viswanathan Anand: The Road to India's First Grandmaster Title

    Viswanathan Anand learned the moves from his mother, Susheela, at about six. Within a decade he was India's youngest International Master, and in 1987 he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Championship. That win was the first of three grandmaster norms he made that year. FIDE lists his grandmaster title as 1988, the first ever for an Indian player.

    Below is his road to the title, tournament by tournament, the coaches and seconds named in published sources, and what he has done since, from five world titles to running FIDE. Every line links to the page it came from.

    Viswanathan Anand in 2016
    Viswanathan Anand, 2016. Photo: Wolfgang Jekel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
    Born
    11 Dec 1969, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu[1]
    Learned chess
    About 6, from his mother[1]
    First tournament
    Larsen & Turbo Open, Madras, 1977[2]
    Grandmaster
    1988, at 18 (norms done in 1987)[3]
    Peak rating
    2817 (March 2011)[1]
    Coaches named in sources
    12, including 9 seconds since 2000[2]

    Tournament by tournament: the road to grandmaster

    1. 1977 · age 8

      Larsen & Turbo Open, Madras[2]

      No prize

      First open tournament named in sources

    2. 1977 · age 8

      Madras District Sub-Junior Championship[2]

      Consolation prize

      First prize of his career

    3. 1982 · age 12

      Tamil Nadu State Junior (U-19) Championship, Salem[2]

      1st, 6/7

      First state title; around this time the press began calling him 'The Lightning Kid'

    4. Dec 1982 · age 12

      National Sub-Junior Championship of India[2]

      5th

      First national age-group championship named

    5. 1983 · age 13

      National 'B' Championship, Ahmedabad[4]

      4th

      Qualified for the National 'A' (senior) Championship at the first attempt

    6. 1983 · age 13

      National Under-16 Championship of India[4]

      1st, 9/9

      National age title with a perfect score; qualified for the 1984 World U16

    7. May 1983 · age 13

      National Team Chess Championship, Bombay (board 1, Madras Colts)[4]

      3.5/4, top-board prize, beat IM Manuel Aaron

      Beat India's first IM and qualified for the National 'B'

    8. 1984 · age 14

      World Under-16 Championship, Nice, France[4]

      Tied 2nd with Vasily Ivanchuk, bronze on tie-break

      First world youth medal

    9. 1984 · age 14

      Lloyds Bank Junior Invitational and Lloyds Bank Open, London[4]

      Won the Junior; half a point behind Spassky and four others in the Open

      Per ChessBase, his first IM norm

    10. 1984 · age 14

      Asian Junior Championship, Coimbatore[4]

      1st

      First Asian Junior title; IM norm only (fewer than 14 players)

    11. 1984 · age 14

      26th Chess Olympiad, Thessaloniki[1]

      7.5/11

      Debut for the Indian national team; IM norm

    12. Jan 1984 · age 14

      National 'A' Championship, Ahmedabad; then National Junior (U19), Vasco da Gama[4]

      4th in National 'A'; clear 1st in National Junior

      Debut on the FIDE rating list (January 1984) and national junior title

    13. 1985 · age 15

      Asian Junior Championship, Hong Kong[4]

      1st, 8.5/11

      IM title; India's youngest International Master

    14. 1985 · age 15

      FIDE title award[3]

      International Master

      FIDE's own record dates the IM title to 1985

    15. 1986 · age 16

      National Championship of India[1]

      Champion

      First senior national title (he won it three times)

    16. 1987 · age 17

      New Delhi international event[5]

      GM norm

      Second GM norm

    17. 1987

      Sakthi (Shakti) Finance International, Coimbatore[6]

      1st; wins incl. Efim Geller and Evgeni Vasiukov

      Third and final GM norm, making him India's first grandmaster

    18. Aug 1987 · age 17

      World Junior Championship, Baguio City, Philippines[7]

      1st, 10/13 (52 players)

      First Indian to win the World Junior; first GM norm

    19. 1988 · age 18

      FIDE title award[1]

      Grandmaster

      India's first grandmaster

    Coaches and trainers

    12 people are named in published sources as a coach, trainer, second or mentor, in order. Players rarely list everyone who helped them, so this is what's on the record, not a complete count.

    1. Susheela Viswanathan (mother)[2]first teacher; in Manila she recorded TV chess games and puzzles for him · c. 1975-1980
    2. Manuel Aaron[2]club instructor: delivered lectures to Tal Chess Club members (not described as a personal coach) · from c. 1977 (Tal Chess Club, Chennai)
    3. T.P. Narayanan[6]team manager at the 1987 World Junior Championship (source calls him a coach and administrator) · 1987
    4. Elizbar Ubilava[1]second and preparation partner, 2000 FIDE World Championship · 2000
    5. Peter Heine Nielsen[8]second (primary second per Wikipedia 2013 page) · 2008-2012 (left before 2013)
    6. Rustam Kasimdzhanov[9]second · 2008-2012
    7. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (also Surya Sekhar Ganguly)[10]second · 2007/2008-2013
    8. Radosław Wojtaszek[11]second · 2008-2014
    9. Krishnan Sasikiran[11]second · 2013-2014
    10. Sandipan Chanda[11]second · 2013
    11. Peter Leko[11]second · 2013
    12. Grzegorz Gajewski[12]second · 2014

    Records, as they stood

    • India's youngest International Master, at 15 (as of 1985)[4]
    • First Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship (as of 1987)[1]
    • India's first grandmaster (as of 1988 (FIDE title year))[5]
    • First recipient of the Khel Ratna Award; first sportsperson to receive the Padma Vibhushan (as of 1991-92 / 2007)[1]

    Since the title: career highlights

    • undefined 2000World Chess Champion: FIDE champion 2000; undisputed champion 2007, defended 2008, 2010, 2012[1]
    • undefined 2007Peak rating 2817 (March 2011); world No. 1 first in April 2007[1]
    • Dec 2017World Rapid Champion 2003 and 2017 (Riyadh)[13]
    • 2020Joint winner (with Russia) of the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad with India[1]
    • Aug 2022FIDE Deputy President since August 2022; Interim FIDE President from July 2026 under Article 19.2 of the FIDE Charter[14]
    • 2026Remained FIDE Deputy President after Timur Turlov won the 2026 FIDE presidential election[1]
    • Oct 2026Current FIDE rating 2739 standard (Oct 2026); world rank 14 among active players, 17 among all players[3]

    Checked on 2026-10-22. Ratings and rankings change every month.

    Where sources disagree

    We show both versions instead of picking one quietly.

    • Date of the GM title
      • 1988 (FIDE title year)[3]
      • 3 September 1987 (ChessBase India; this is also the date the World Junior ended, before the 2nd and 3rd norms, so it looks wrong)[5]
      • 1987 at age 18 (Wikipedia body text; contradicts its own lead, which says 1988)[1]
    • GM norms timing and Shakti Finance venue
      • All three GM norms in 1988, Shakti Finance held in Chennai (The Bridge)[15]
      • Norms in 1987: Baguio, New Delhi, then Sakthi Finance in Coimbatore (ChessBase India)[6]
    • Age when they learned chess
      • 6 (Wikipedia)[1]
      • 5-6 (ChessBase)[2]
      • 5 (The Better India)[16]
    • First IM norm
      • First IM norm at the 1984 Lloyds Bank Open, London (ChessBase)[4]
      • IM norm at the 1984 Asian Junior, Coimbatore, then second at the 1984 Olympiad (Wikipedia)[1]
    • Journey 1983 national U16 / sub-junior: age
      • 'at age 14' (Wikipedia; he was 13 for most of 1983, turning 14 on 11 Dec 1983)[1]
      • Called the U16-Championship of India (ChessBase)[4]

    Every grandmaster started with a first tournament

    How long the road usually takes, from first moves to the title, is in our study of how long it takes to become a grandmaster. For a child starting out, here's how to get a FIDE rating in India.

    Book a free trial classFree report on your child's games

    Quick answers

    When did Viswanathan Anand become a grandmaster?

    FIDE lists his grandmaster title as 1988. He completed the three norms in 1987: the World Junior Championship in Baguio, a tournament in New Delhi, and the Sakthi Finance tournament. He was India's first grandmaster.

    At what age did Viswanathan Anand start playing chess?

    At about six. His mother, Susheela, taught him the moves; sources give his age as five, six or five to six.

    Who was Viswanathan Anand's first coach?

    His mother, Susheela, who taught him and studied games with him. As a boy he also attended lectures by Manuel Aaron, India's first International Master, at the Tal Chess Club in Chennai. No personal junior coach is named in published sources.

    What was Viswanathan Anand's first tournament?

    The Larsen & Turbo Open in Madras, in 1977, according to ChessBase.

    More of India's greats

    Sources

    Every fact above links to the page it came from. We read each page and copied the sentence that says it; the quote is shown here. Checked on 2026-10-22.

    1. [1]en.wikipedia.org"Viswanathan Anand was born on 11 December 1969 in a Tamil Hindu family in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India."
    2. [2]en.chessbase.com"Anand played his first open tournament in 1977 when he was eight years old. It was the Larsen & Turbo Open, and like any debutant at the open stage he didn’t win any prize."
    3. [3]ratings.fide.com"FIDE Arbiter/Trainer FIDE Senior Trainer (2022) Not licensed Titles Grandmaster (GM)1988 International Master (IM)1985 FIDE Directory FIDE Council Deputy President"
    4. [4]en.chessbase.com"Although it was Anand's first attempt to pick a qualification spot, he played like a seasoned veteran finishing fourth and easily qualifying for the prestigious National ‘A’ Championship."
    5. [5]chessbase.in"In 1987 he won the World Juniors in Baguio, Philippines to score his first GM norm. The second one came at the New Delhi event and the final norm was made at the Sakthi Finance tournament in Coimbatore"
    6. [6]chessbase.in"Anand en route to achieving his final GM norm at the Sakthi Finance tournament in Coimbatore scored wins against Ravi Hegde, Mithrakanth, K.Murugan, Pravin Thipsay, Evgeni Vasiukov, Efim Geller, Lanka Ravi and Shekhar Sahu."
    7. [7]nytimes.com"Viswanathan Anand, a 17-year-old international master and champion of India, has won the world junior championship in Baguio City, the Philippines. Anand scored 10-3 in the 52-player Swiss-system tournament"
    8. [8]en.wikipedia.org"Anand's seconds who helped his preparation were: Peter Heine Nielsen, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Surya Ganguly and Radosław Wojtaszek."
    9. [9]en.wikipedia.org"Anand had the same group of seconds who helped his preparation in World Chess Championship 2008 and World Chess Championship 2010: Peter Heine Nielsen, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Radosław Wojtaszek."
    10. [10]chessbase.in"Over a Skype call in 2007 when idol Viswanathan Anand politely queried if Ganguly would be kind enough to assist him for the World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik, the then 24-year-old felt his jaw drop and voice choke."
    11. [11]en.wikipedia.org"Anand's seconds for the match were Surya Ganguly and Radosław Wojtaszek, who had helped him in four previous World Championship matches;"
    12. [12]en.wikipedia.org"During the opening press conference, Anand revealed his seconds to be Krishnan Sasikiran, Radosław Wojtaszek and Grzegorz Gajewski."
    13. [13]indianexpress.com"In the final, Anand beat Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev to reclaim the title he had won in 2003."
    14. [14]chessbase.in"Appointment of Interim President: In accordance with Article 19.2 of the FIDE Charter, Viswanathan Anand (Deputy President of FIDE) will assume the role of Interim President for the duration of these restrictive measures."
    15. [15]thebridge.in"1988 was a golden year in Anand’s career, as he achieved all three GM norms and was recognised as the first ever Chess Grand Master from India by winning the Shakti Finance International Chess Tournament in front of his home crowd at Chennai."
    16. [16]thebetterindia.com"Sushila found Anand's interest in chess when he was just five. Since then she has supported him, taught him basic moves of chess"