Being world champion is a dream come true: Anand

New Delhi: After a gap of nearly seven years Viswanathan Anand is the World Champion once again.

Anand drew his last game against Peter Leko of Hungary before he was crowned the world champion and won the $390,000 title in Mexico City.

His performance at the tournament was calculated and consistent and he did not losing a single game and finishing at the top with nine points.

"This tournament went like a dream. Yesterday I worked really hard but today I just remembered the saying that when your hand plays one way and your heart plays another, it never goes well. So I decided to play solid and just go for the draw," Anand said about his last match of the tournament.

The win not only reinstates Anand's dominance in the sport but also establishes his status as the world No.1 and the 38-year-old Indian has won all the major chess titles.

He was a chess champion in the junior category in 1987 and in the year 2000 Anad become the World Chess Champion.

He won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and fours years later won the chess championship a second time.

Over the years Anand has been awarded the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri and the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991. His name has also been in the Chess Oscar list for four years.

But the highest point in his career would undoubtedly be the time when was oficially rated No.1 in the FIDE rankings.

"It is quite something to finally see your name on the top of the list. So it was nice and I was going again and again to the website and seeing it," he had said a few days ago.

For his mother just one word described the moment.

"Happiness, happiness, happiness. Nothing but happiness," was all his mother said on Anand's fantastic win.

Anand's father was also very proud of his son's achievement.

"Just before his final round, it is a very crucial match in which the way he won the game is just history," his father said.

Now there is little doubt that Anand's achievement will be an inspiration for many in the country.

Source: www.ibnlive.com