Viswanathan Anand

"I wasn't expecting him to be a gracious, so fair enough. The winner can say anything when he wins... so I guess we will just have to swallow it for now."

"Being the undisputed world champion is a relief. We instituted a unified chess title, I am the absolute world champion."

"I have what I think is an extremely Indian relationship with God....In Moscow before the tie breaker of the World Championship in May 2012, I again entreated God:Just stay on my side of the board."

"When you lose, you really feel a sense of self … You actually feel that you are being taken apart, rather than just your pieces."

"It's going to be important for him to start ducking and weaving and playing different positions."

"As a young kid sprouting a wispy moustache, I was sometimes dismissed by the Russians as an upstart. I have been referred to even as a “coffeehouse player"

"I started at the age of six. My elder brother and sister were dabbling a bit, and then I went to my mother and pestered her to teach me as well."

"You would have to sit at the board and sweat and feel the fear of defeat or the nearness of victory to understand what goes through a player's head … If you think it's that easy, switch off the comput…"