1997 was a great year for Anand, but 1998 was truly phenomenal. It is ironic that such a year began with a major disappointment: Anand lost the controversial FIDE World Championship match to Karpov, although he did not succumb until rapid tie-breaks. It must not have bothered him too much, because he went on to win four strong classical tournaments, including: the VII Torneo Magistral in Madrid (which included Svidler, Leko, and Adams), Tilburg Fontys (Kramnik, Topalov, Leko), Wijk Aan Zee (shared with Kramnik ahead of Karpov, Shirov, Adams, Topalov) and finally the crème de la crème: clear first in Linares ahead of Kasparov, Kramnik, and Shirov.

Rapid wins in the Siemens Giants (which included Kasparov; Anand beat Kramnik in the final in blitz tiebreaks) and the large Villarrobledo open tournament were simply icing on the cake.

Related Game Collections:

Game Collection: Tilburg Fontys 1998

Game Collection: Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1998

Game Collection: Madrid 1998

Game Collection: Linares 1998