Christmas celebrations began a day early this year for Indian chess aficionados, with grandmaster Vishwanathan spreading Anand all around by clinching the FIDE world chess title. As contests go, it wasn't much to write about, with Anand handily demolishing Spain's Alexei Shirov. But his numerous fans, who've seen `Vishy' choke all too often in the past, certainly won't complain now. Anand began the knock-out tournament as the favourite and lived up to his billing, marching serenely towards his coronation without losing a single game. The only anxious moments came during the quarter-final, when he was forced into a tie-breaker by defending champion Alexander Khalifman. But even Khalifman could only delay the inevitable.

Anand has thus fulfilled the destiny many predicted for him after he burst upon the scene in 1984 by winning the Asian Junior Championship. The laurels kept piling up: International Master at 15, World Junior Chess Champion at 18, India's first Grandmaster in the same year, winner of the strongest chess tournament ever at first Reggio Emilia in 1992 and then Linares in 1998, winner of the Chess Oscar in both 1998 and 1999. Yet the coveted title of world chess champion remained elusive. Twice, Anand was tantalisingly poised one step away from the pinnacle. Both times, he was checkmated, first by Garry Kasparov in the Professional Chess Association final in 1995, and then by Anatoly Karpov at the FIDE final in 1998 - though Karpov had the unfair advantage of being seeded straight into the final while Anand had to first win the gruelling Groningen knock-out championship.