Sunday, April 1, was a historic day for Indian chess, as Viswanathan Anand took over the top ranking in the sport.
The Indian ace, who has won every prize in the sport, was assured of the world number one spot on the International Chess Federation (FIDE) charts for the first time in his career after winning the Morelia-Linares tournament in Spain last month.
But there was drama initially when the rankings were released on Sunday morning as the FIDE had Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria still on the top, 13 points ahead of Anand.
The game’s world governing body said the Morelia-Linares tournament was not taken into consideration while updating the rankings since it concluded on March 10, outside the cut-off date of February 28. However, following strong protests from the All India Chess Federation, FIDE accepted its error and installed Anand as world No 1.
“Congratulations to Anand and the All India Chess Federation. Pleased to inform you that we have rated Linares event today and Anand is world number one,” FIDE Rating Committee chairman Casto Abundo said in a statement, confirming Anand as the game’s new number one.
Let’s all join in and congratulate the new king of the 64 squares board.
