I won my first National Championship in 1986, though the last three games were chaotic. On the last day I was playing Vaidya, and Prasad had already finished his games. If Vaidya won, he would become the champion on tie-break, so he gambled heavily and lost to me and I became the champion.
I went on to win the title three times in a row after that.
I missed the GM norm again but then somebody told me, you are missing it narrowly, but when you get it, you will get it by a huge margin.
My Class 12 exam
As the 12th standard exam was important, I didn't try and qualify for the Candidates in 1987. I decided to prepare for the exam. So I took a break from chess from January to March. The break did a lot of good and the rest of the year turned out brilliantly.
After finishing the exam, I felt free to concentrate on my games. By April, I was looking forward to playing chess.
Finally, a Grandmaster!
The World Junior Championship was held at Baguio City in the Philippines. I had been to Baguio as a small boy when my father was posted there; it was the year after the World Championship between Karpov and Korchnoi. Baguio is a resort town in the mountains.
I am sure they would not have gone to the championship venue had their son not been a chess player. So, we saw the venue in 1978 itself. I still remember my parents wanted me to enjoy the scenic beauty while I was anxious to get back and see Popeye!
In 1987, when I reached Baguio for the World Juniors, I was very happy. It was a very nice, cosy hotel and the conditions were very good. Again, there was this boy called Ivanchuk there, and I beat him. I won all the games without any difficulty except the last one. I played that game so badly, when I knew even a draw was enough for me to win the title.
But sometimes when you have this attitude, you choke. I drew the game. Somebody wrote, Anand made all the bad moves he didn't make in the entire tournament in that one game!
Anyway, I won the World Junior Championship and, for the first time, I started appearing in all the Philippines newspapers. During the tournament, they covered only their boys and the Russians but after the event, they wrote a lot about me.
In India, there was a lot of excitement. Many people were following the game because an Indian was about to win a world title. Back in Chennai, I gave interviews non-stop. I spoke to all the major newspapers and magazines. I was on the cover of many magazines including The Illustrated Weekly. It was real fun.
My parents keep this trophy with them, and we treasure it a lot.
I got my first GM norm after winning the World Juniors. I got my second GM norm at Bhilwara on my birthday, December 11. Two weeks later I became a Grandmaster. (Anand is the first Indian Grandmaster.) Like 1983, 1987 was a special year for me.
Image: Anand with the World Junior Championship trophy. Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj
Also read: 'Kasparov is a bit shaky'
Advertisement
