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 Photo: John Gichigi/ALLSPORT
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SPORT An Anand year Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand started the year by winning the 65th Corus Grandmasters tournament in Wijk Ann Zee, The Netherlands. It was the 33-year-old Indian ace's third Corus title. He tallied 8.5 points from 13 rounds, beating Braingames champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine. It was an ideal start for the Indian champion who had a disappointing 2002. Towards the year-end, the 'Tiger from Madras,' as Anand is nicknamed in chess circles, tamed Kramnik for the second time in a rapid chess game to become the world Rapid champion. Anand also became the first player ever to win three unshared titles and break Kramnik's record of two unshared and two shared titles when he won the Amber tournament in Monte Carlo. Next, he won the Chess Classic in Mainz, Germany. Though he finished runner-up in the Sparkassen event, he finished the year in a blaze of glory, winning the World Rapid and Open Rapid titles in France. The Open Rapid at Bastia, France, was Anand's fourth successive title. Text: Ivan Crasto
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