For India, 2008 is turning out to be a landmark year for sport as our players in different events are notching up new successes. Just two months ago, in August, the Indian contingent returned from the Beijing with an unprecedented haul of medals, including the first gold. Then came the cricket Test where India whipped world-beaters Australia in the second match of the series, which will be remembered for master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar overtaking Brian Lara to emerge as the world’s biggest run-getter in both Test and one-day cricket. The run of good luck seems to be in full flow with Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand winning the World Championship title in Bonn against the formidable Russian Vladimir Kramnik. With this victory, Anand is the undisputed king of chess in all forms of the game. He is already the world champion in the tournament and knockout formats. Now he has bagged the world title in the match-play format, too.

There was never any doubt about the iconic Indian chess player being the world No. 1. Anand has won the World Championship title twice before the face-off with Kramnik. However, there were critics who raised questions about his standard of match-play. Now that he has triumphed in the match-play format against Kramnik in one of the most challenging contests of his career, all questions about his credentials as the numero uno of the chess world are irrelevant.

In the beginning of this year, both Anand and Kramnik were number one in the world, as Anand had recalled before setting out for Bonn. Never for a moment during the long months of preparation did Anand underestimate his opponent, as Kramnik is a classical player most comfortable in match-play. The games were keenly fought, and Kramnik drew the ninth game before inflicting a surprise defeat on Anand in the tenth. Therefore, the taste of success for Anand must be all the more sweet. (tt)