Anand says he’s ready for world chess duel with Kramnik

The 31-year-old Indian grandmaster defeated Spain’s Alexei Shirov, winning the fourth game of a six-game final to take an unassailable 3.5-0.5 points lead.

Anand said there was no concrete proposal nor any sponsorship yet for a match with Kramnik. ‘‘So far it’s just noise, just static. People are basically floating a trial balloon,’’ he said.

Top-level chess is divided into two rival competitions, the Fide and Brain Games championships, of which the latter is generally acknowledged to be the ultimate chess showdown.

Anand is the first Fide world champion from outside the former Soviet Union since Bobby Fischer of the United States beat Boris Spassky in 1972.

Kramnik has supported efforts to unify the world title since beating Kasparov in a 16-match Brain Games tournament in London in November.

Anand said he had a sense of fulfilment rather than elation after winning the Fide title. ‘‘I’m Not jumping up and down. I have not even looked back at the games,’’he said.

A big reception, including a meeting with Indian President K.R. Narayanan, awaits Anand when he returns home on Friday.

KHALIFMAN TOUGHEST: Anand, who was top seed in the Teheran tournament, said Russia’s defending champion Alexander Khalifman, whom he beat in the quarter-final, was his toughest rival in the championship.

‘‘He was the one who brought me closest to defeat. He could have eliminated me. It was the scariest moment in the tournament,’’ Anand said.

The Russian, rated much lower than Anand, forced the Indian into a tie-break, but failed to cash in on what experts felt was a clear winning chance in the second tie-break game.

Anand said he had matured a lot since losing two title clashes to Kasparov in the Professional Chess Association’s world final in 1995 and to multiple world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia in the Fide final in 1997.

‘‘In 1997, I didn’t finish the job. I don’t believe I lost fair and square. The conditions were quite ridiculous,’’he said.

He predicted that Russia would continue to dominate the game for at least the next decade.

‘‘The rest of the world is slowly gaining ground. China, India and European countries are progressing. Maybe in 10 years. But the single biggest entity will be Russia,’’ he said.

Anand said chess had grown in popularity in India since he became the country’s first Grandmaster in 1987 and his latest win would provide a fresh impetus.‘‘This (the win) is the icing on the cake, the impetus,’’ he said.