There are many things in life that get better as they grow older:

• French Wine
• The Godfather Movie
• Madonna

However, none of them got as better with time like the greatest Indian chess player that ever lived – Viswanathan Anand.

Anand is often underappreciated as a World Champion. It is how to understand why – he has been a member of the World Elite for almost 30 years. His success spans from Winning the Junior Chess Championship in 1988 to becoming the World Rapid Champion in 2017.

He is also the chess player with most victories in the World Chess Championship Matches ever. True, some of them were FIDE matches that are not officially recognized even today. Nevertheless, he battled against Kramnik, Topalov, Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen.

Among others.

And don’t forget – he appeared in the country that didn’t have a vast chess culture. He solely can be blamed for the subsequent chess boom in India.

The most amazing thing – he doesn’t even look like he is already 49.

Happy Birthday to Tiger from Madras!

(If you like posts as these, check our complete list of Chess Birthdays )