I went to a tournament in Kirgizhstan in October 1987. Maya Chiburdanidze, then the world ladies champion, was there as a guest. She asked me, 'What's your name?'
I remember all the participants trying to pronounce Viswanathan with great difficulty though I told them my name was Anand. But they thought Anand was my last name. They tried saying Viswa... Viswa... Viswa...
Then Maya said Vishy, the others laughed, and the name stuck!
There's a funny follow-up. In Brussels, my father came for his name badge, and they had already given me the name badge Vishy. Then, they asked him, 'What should we call you? Vishy Senior?'
In the chess world, I am known as Vishy. If they want to tease me, it's Vishy Washy but everything around Vish!
A Padma Shri at 18
I was given the Padma Shri in 1988 for winning the world junior title. Otherwise, 1988 was generally a bad year. It happens to everyone after they become Grandmasters. When you are trying to become a Grandmaster, there is a specific goal in front of you. But after you become a Grandmaster, many people say for a few months they are unable to play chess because they drift.
When you don't have an ambition, your results start to drop. In 1988 I had a bad case of this.
It was only in November 1988 that I started to play good chess again, and that was in the Olympiad.
1989 was a similar year. The only good thing was I was invited to Wijk Aan Zee. I was invited to Brussels as a commentator in 1988, and I was enjoying it tremendously. There, the organisers of Wijk Aan Zee were there and they asked me, 'Would you like to come and play here next year?'.
I felt fantastic. Brussels was memorable because I got my first invite to play chess! I still remember we were in the lobby of the hotel, and three gentlemen came and told me, 'Here's your contract.' I still remember it so clearly. Of course, I signed it immediately!
Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj
Also read: 'Chess as a sport is getting younger'
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