When in 1991 Anand played his first Linares event he met a Spanish couple Maurice and Nieves (in picture). They were the reason Anand moved to Collado Mediano in Spain. They travelled with Vishy to many events over the years. Still, whenever Vishy wins, Maurice is the first person he thinks of. He is by far Anand's biggest fan. Nieves is no more and when Vishy won Linares this year in a way he dedicated it to her.
Maurice still remembers meeting Vishy in 1991.
"He has the way of walking you know -- hands in his pocket and talking fast. He played with Alexander Beliyavsky and had barely used 10 minutes on his clock. So I said tomorrow Anatoly Karpov will think a little more and he said how about 11?
"That is when I thought that is my boy. Of course today, Vishy is World No 1 and I am happy that I have seen him from a candidate to World champion to World No 1," recalls Maurice.
In 1991 Anand became a candidate for the World Championship match. The match gave him his first insight into the Soviet school of thought. Although he came very close he had to concede defeat to Karpov. In 1995 against Garry Kasparov he had his moments against the chess legend. The New York match was a turning point in his career.
Anand realised that to move forward he had to change his approach to chess. Since then he has been in the top three of the rankings and has won every prestigious tournament be it classical, rapid or blitz. It is no surprise that he has won the Chess Oscar four times in 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Soon after New York, Anand married Aruna according to family tradition. Aruna, then a complete chess stranger, soon took to the circuit and started accompanying her hushand to all chess events.
"When I first met Anand I could not believe someone so famous could be so simple. When we started travelling I had no clue about chess. In fact I used to sleep in the theatre and then wait for Anand to come after the game. But now sometimes when I tell him some position he starts laughing. I am so happy for Anand. He has always tried to play by the rules even if that meant giving up opportunities. For him his conscience is his most important value and his success comes only with hard work," says Aruna.
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