Viswanathan Anand, the Indian chess player, combines a calm, modest manner with lightning brilliance on the chess board .Viswanathan Anand, or "Vishy" as he is known to his fans in India, became in 1984 the youngest Indian to earn the title of Indian Grandmaster at the age of fifteen. In 1987, he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Chess Championship at Baguio City in Philippines. Anand’s success is only re-asserting the intellectual capacity of Indian brain. A future promise that India will be looking to lead the world in Chess.

The present Chess game rules were established in 1952 at the 23rd International Chess Association Congress in Stockholm. Nowadays the chess literature comprises thousands of books, magazines about the games, tournaments, etc. It is the source of knowledge for the Chess game fans all over the world. The chessboard comprises of eight rows and eight columns, with a total of 64 squares of alternating colors, usually black and white.

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is the central administrative body for the game of Indian Chess. The AICF was founded in 1951 with its headquarters in Bombay. The Chess Federation of India is affiliated to FIDE, the world body for chess. The Indian Chess Federation has now under its fold more than 30 affiliated state associations, 16 special members and 23 recognized academies as its constituents. The AICF deserves accolades for their zealous efforts to promote Chess in India.

Chess is one of the world`s most popular board games and is played both recreationally and competitively. In contemporary times, India is placed among the top chess playing countries in the world, all due to players like Viswanathan Anand, P. Harikrishna, etc.With the roots of the game tracing back to the ancient Indians and Persians, Chess was a game meant for the kings and for royal personalities, since it involved military planning and strategy.

The Indian Chess players have always been under the spotlight of the international arena and they have also been doing very good results in all the regional and international tournaments. However, in spite of having such a very successful background and glorious performances, the Indian Chess players somehow lacked behind when it comes to the fact of winning the "Arjuna Award". In the history of Chess, there have been only 12 players who became successful to win the "Arjuna Award" . The Indian Chess players got their first ever "Arjuna Award" in 1961, the very first year of the award`s inception.

Indian chess is in a very, very good state. There are lots of extremely gifted players. The Indian chess sensation was rated among the world’s top ten chess players. Some of the famous Indian chess Palyers are Manuel Aaron, Dibyendu Barua, Sandipan Chanda,Abhijeet Gupta,Pentala Harikrishna, Humpy Koneru. etc.