The Rotary Club of Madras conferred the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand here on Tuesday.

Accepting the trophy from S. Gunashekar, club president, Anand said, "I am deeply honoured to have received this award from an organisation that does so much good work"

"I am very proud and happy to have gotten the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club. I think the chess scholarship which they are instituting here is a very, very good development for chess," he added.

"When you're young all you need is a pat on the back and the feeling that people are behind you," he said.

Gunasekar said the Lifetime Achievement Award is a policy of the club to honour distinguished people who have accomplished great success in their professions.

"Last year we gave this award to Mr. Kamal Hassan on his completion of 50 years in cinema and this year, it's none other than Mr. Viswanathan Anand. You know what he did in May, after he won against Veselin Topalov. So, we requested him, and he was gracious enough to accept the award, " said Gunasekar.

Anand held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split.

He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match. (ANI)