World Chess Champions
World Chess Champions 2006 – present
|
# |
Name |
Year |
Country |
|
20/15 |
Viswanathan Anand |
2007–present |
India |
|
19/14 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
2006–2007 |
Russia |
Chess Players
2008 World Chess Champion - Anand Vishy
The World Chess Championship took place from October 14 – 29, 2008, in the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn, Germany. The match was won by the reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India, who thus retains his title. Anand beat the Challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia by a score of 6.5:2.5.
2008 Women's World Chess Champion - Alexandra Kosteniuk
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk drew in the fourth game of the 2008 World Chess Championship finals with WGM Yifan Hao of China to win the coveted diamond studded crown and a prize money of $60,000. Number one world ranked women’s chess player GM Judith Polgar of Hungary, number three GM Jun Xie of China, and number seven IM Marie Sebag of France did not participate, while number two world ranked women’s chess player GM Koneru Humpy of India and number six GM Pia Cramling of Sweden lost in semi-finals.
Youngest Chess Master in US History
9 year old Nicholas Nip is youngest chess master in US History beating Bobby Fischer's record by 4 years. On the Regis and Kelly show he plays 10 adult chess players including defending armed forces champion all at the same time.
Chess Prodigies
Chess Grandmasters
With the advances in computer technology, access to latest chess games and theories is quick and easy. This allowed thirteen chess prodigies in the last fifteen years to earn grandmaster titles before their fifteenth birthday. Playing chess to earn the chess grandmaster title is a challenging goal. Less than one percent of chess players gain the master and grandmaster titles. Grandmasters (GMs) have a great deal of commitment, determination, and they practice many hours every day. They memorize various openings, middle games and end games.
2007 World Chess Champions
The current world chess champion is GM Viswanathan Anand of India. Born on December 11, 1969, he picked his early lessons in chess, at the age of six from his mother, Susila Viswanathan. Anand holds a degree in Commerce and lives in Spain and India. He has been honoured with many prestigious awards like the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the Padma Bhushan, the Sportstar, Sportsman of the Millennium, the Birla Living Legends and the Jameo de Oro Award.
Interview with IM Igor Zugic
Igor Zugic is a 24-year-old International Master from Toronto. He works as a software engineer at Siemens. Igor holds an engineering degree from the University of Toronto.
When did you learn to play chess?
My father thought me to play chess when I was five. I played my first tournament when I was eleven. It was a weekend open tourney.