Viswanathan Anand will be back in his home country on 15th December.

The Indian chess maestro turns 34 on December 11th. His performance in 2003 would surely give him good reason to celebrate. The year has been among Anand's finest ever.

His performance in Rapid Chess this year has been remarkable. He has won the two strongest events in Rapid Chess in the last two years, namely the Eurotel trophy and the World Rapid Chess Championships in Capd'Agde. More events these days tend to be played in this dynamic format. In all rapid chess events Anand finished first, taking second place only in the recently concluded event in Benidorm.

Taking the World Rapid Chess crown is easily the high point of the year. The prestigious World Rapid Chess Championship saw Anand start off humbly and slowly grow in stature as he eliminated his rivals, Ponomariov, Svidler and Kramnik. The final game against Kramnik was reviewed by a majority of the International newspapers like the LA times and the Telegraph. The event that could be aptly called the "see-saw Thriller" was the match against Judit Polgar in Mainz, Germany. Losing the first game and winning the second game three times consecutively surely kept the audience hooked to their chairs and mouse pads.

On the last day Anand won both games. The Indian lightning kid created history by winning the famous black jacket four times in succession. Anand has won this Rapid event six out of seven times since 1997. In other events, like the Amber Rapid and blind chess Tournament in March. The Indian Grandmaster became the only player to win the event three times unshared.

Soon after Anand played in the SIS MH Masters in Denmark. Making a near perfect score of 5.5 out of 6 Anand won the tournament with ease.

The Indian Lance Armstrong

Anand won the Corsica Masters four years in row. This unprecedented tournament record prompted Michael Gurevitch who was also Anand's first trainer and "Guru" in Brussels 1991 to comment " Anand is our very own Lance Armstrong. He has won two very strong events four times in a row closing in on the Armstrong's by created a sequel in Chess, Tour de France".

In Classical Chess, Anand has put in a good performance in 2003. He won the traditional Corus 2003 Chess tournament in January.

In Linares he finished joint third with Kasparov. In Dortmund after a disastrous start, Anand fought back to win three games in a row. His game against the tournament winner Victor Bologan deserves special mention for the novelty employed by Anand. To quote Anand " After my first loss to Victor, I was waiting to play him in the second half of the event. Seeing that he played the Caro Kann defence in most of his games, I thought this was the best time to pull out this ace. Actually the move occurred to me during my match (Mainz 2002, Anand won 4.5-3.5) against Ruslan Ponomariov. In the first game at one point I was so lost and thought if Ruslan played Rook to e1 I have to resign. Luckily he played Knight to D2. I held my breath! I came home and checked this move and found no defence. Bologan was Ponomariov's second and I knew they must have worked a good deal on this. So he was the perfect person to wheel out this novelty."

In 2003 Anand created new records. Many of the records he battered were his own previous records. As Anand reflects on his year, he muses on what critics call the Best Year of Anand. " I'm really happy that the year went well. But it is time to wipe the slate clean. 2004 is a different year and I hope to better myself as a chess player and to enjoy my chess. "

Since 2002 Anand tries harder at the board. Like the oft repeated saying when the going gets tough…. Anand fights back when the race gets harder. In 2002 in Hyderabad at the World Cup and later on in 2003 in Dortmund Anand was able to come back from behind and still be in contention for top spot. His fighting spirit and ambition is slowly being noticed by critics who have in the past felt Anand was at time s too passive.

Apart from his chess preparation, Anand has increased his physical preparation. He puts in a daily two hour routine at the Gym. Anand regularly takes long walks to clean his mind. During tournaments Anand does Yoga just to keep fit.

Off the chessboard, India is always the top destination for Anand. The Indian maestro will spend some of his time with family and friends. The usual Chess dinner is also something Anand eagerly awaits during his trips to India. " We always end up in a Chinese restaurant. There is a lot of gossip first, the local stuff, then I chip in with gossip in the International chess scene. By the time we are having dessert, the topic is on chess. They ask me why I played a certain move and I ask them the same. It is a nice informal exchange. Anand constantly exchanges chess notes with many of the Indian players including Sasikiran and Ganguly.
The customary afternoon card games with his parents are very sacred for Anand. His mother once commented that the only time she saw Anand angry was when he loses a game of cards. This has prompted all family members to gift him packs of cards.

There will also be appearances for NIIT, his global sponsor.

So what will the birthday boy be doing on 11th? Anand usually plays chess on his birthday. This year it will be a quiet celebration and hopefully no chess after the birthday cake.

Anand will be free to do interviews for various media. For a personal interview during his stay, kindly contact Mr. Kuruvilla Abraham of TNQ Sponsorship (India) Pvt. Ltd. He can be contacted on his mobile 098840 30991 or by e-mail mail@tnq.in

If there are specific questions about Anand's Birthday or a prelude to Anand's visit you may e-mail TNQ Sponsorship accordingly and all e-mail will be forwarded to Anand.