AICF requests govt to bestow Anand with Bharat Ratna

AICF reiterates its demand of conferring Bharat Ratna on Viswanathan Anand after the grand master clinched his fifth World Championship title in Moscow.

Chennai: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) on Wednesday reiterated its demand of conferring Bharat Ratna on Viswanathan Anand after the grand master clinched his fifth World Championship title in Moscow.

"On this great occasion, we request govt of India to honour Viswanathan Anand with Bharat Ratna. Our request has been pending with the central govt and with Anand reestablishing himself as the indisputable World champion deserves the coveted award," AICF president JCD Prabhakar said. "We do hope that Anand will be bestowed with Bharat Ratna this time. On this occasion, we would like to thank the Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa for her offering to host the just-concluded world championship in Chennai," he added. Prabhakar said the whole chess fraternity was ecstatic at Anand`s achievement and wished him all the best for future. "We are in a jubilant mood after Anand established himself as the world champion once again. In the midway through the match we thought, Anand was rather subdued in his usual favourite format but perhaps he was working his way for solidity in defeating the rival," he said. "However, we were confident that he will ultimately win the match because on many occasion he has proved himself as a master of rapid chess. "The chess fraternity of Tamil Nadu joins me in wishing Anand the very best in his future championships," he added. Anand on Wednesday beat challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in a tense rapid chess tie-breaker, after a 6-6 deadlock in the 12 Classical games, to win the World Championship crown for the fifth time and fourth in a row. PTI