Anand wins chess Oscar for sixth time

World champion Viswanathan Anand continued to reign supreme bagging the Chess Oscar for the sixth time and becoming the first non-Russian to do so.

Anand received the award from International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov before the start of the President's Cup, being contested between teams of Azerbaijan and FIDE World, which started in Baku on Friday.

The Indian ace has earlier won the honour in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2007 while Russia's Garry Kasparov has claimed it 11 times and Bobby Fischer of America has taken it home thrice.

The Chess Oscar is awarded by Russian chess magazine '64 -- Chess Review' on the basis of a poll carried out among chess journalists and experts. The Oscar comes in the form of a statuette also called the "Fascinated Wanderer".

Meanwhile, in President's Cup, the FIDE World team comprising Anand, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Alexei Shirov of Spain and Sergei Karyakin of Ukraine, is leading after the first two rounds played on the inaugural day on Friday.

The Azerbaijan team consists of Teimour Radjabov, Vugar Gashimov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Gadir Guseinov and Rauf Mamedov, all above Elo 2700 ratings.

Anand defeated Gashimov to put the FIDE World team in the lead by 4.5-3.5 points after the second round.