MOSCOW: Newly-crowned world chess champion Viswanathan Anand received a gold medal, prize money of $1.4 million (around Rs. 7.9 crores), a memento and a piece of contemporary art displaying him and challenger Boris Gelfand, for his achievement at a ceremony on Thursday.Stating that his connection with Russia has been very deep, Anand said, "I benefitted a lot from playing chess in Russian Cultural center in Chennai and my second Grandmaster norm was also made at the Cultural center in New Delhi. The connection with Russia is quite deep, as I also played a lot of tournaments here while growing up."
Anand, who won in a nail-biting finish in rapid tiebreak games, wished Gelfand good luck during the prize giving and mentioned that Gelfand always warmly greeted him before each game, ensuring that the match was played in right spirit.
In Image: FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, left, presents World chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India with a laurel wreath at the award presentation ceremony of the FIDE World Chess Championship in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 31, 2012.
Text: PTI
Images: AP
