Indian Viswanathan Anand, the world’s newly-crowned chess champion, combines a calm, modest manner with lightning brilliance on the chess board and relentless preparation.

Anand learned the game at age six from his mother. By the time he was 13, Anand was India’s junior champion and at the age of 16, he won the senior title. He was the world’s junior champion in 1987 and in 1991 he won the prestigious Reggio Emilia tournament ahead of the Russian masters Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.

In 2000, he became the first Asian to take the world title, but his victory was overshadowed by the chess world’s two competing chess titles — one by the International Federation of Chess and the Professional Association of Chess led by Kasporov.

Anand burnished his reputation with a triumph at the rapid chess Cap d’Agde tournament in France in 2003 and with his mastery of the “Advanced Chess” game created by Kasporov which allows competitors to play with the aid of a computer.

After being crowned the world’s undisputed champion Saturday, Anand had an emotional chat with his original chess instructor, his mother, to tell her news of his victory.

“Vishy informed me of his second world title at 1:20 am this morning,” Susheela Viswanathan told the Press Trust of India news agency in the south Indian city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state.

“With a choking voice, Anand said ‘amma (mom), I have won. I am the world champion for the second time,’” she said.

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