Chess icon Viswanathan Anand gets hero's welcome

Chennai: Chess Grand master and world champion Viswanathan Anand was welcomed at Chennai International Airport after his victory in the Championship at Bonn. It was a hero's welcome in the wee hours of Friday, November 21.

It was a sportstar returning after conquering the world and for a change, it was not a cricketer that the people were going crazy over at the international airport.

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand is back home from Bonn, and he has brought home the title as the reigning World Chess Champion.

"It feels great to be back. The reception has been absolutely fantastic," said Vishy, as Viswanathan Anand, the Chess Grandmaster is popularly known.

The excitement was palpable and Anand's fans, chess enthusiasts of all ages, couldn't get enough of their star.

As for wife Aruna, it was yet another proud moment.

"The reception has been great and now we are hoping to get pampered. I'm sure all the pampering will start soon," said Aruna Anand, Viswanathan Anand's wife.

Anand could see hundreds of school kids carrying placards, a band playing non-stop music, a traditional south Indian welcome and thousands of fans screaming out his name.

It was a welcome Anand will remember for a long time to come.

Anand, the King of Chess

Viswanathan Anand beat his Russian opponent Vladimir Kramnik in the World Chess Championship in Bonn on Wednesday to retain his world title.

Anand retained the title after ending the 11th game with Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in a draw to reach 6.5 points against the Russian's 4.5.

Chess is often described as mental boxing as two people slug it out, toe to toe, trying to beat each other up psychologically and Anand retained the World Championship title against an opponent, who is not known to be forgiving and the Indian will cherish the win all his life.

He retained his World Championship title with a game to spare. It's a performance that will further increase his lead at the top, over his opponents on the FIDE rankings.

"Beating Kramnik in a match is definitely a phenomenal result because his match style is lethal. It's almost impossible to get a win against him. I managed three. Even (former champion Gary) Kasparov didn't manage a single win," Anand said after his title win

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Anbu.