Chennai (PTI): Hailing Viswanathan Anand's feat of retaining world chess crown as the 'greatest achievement and unique one', All India Chess Federation president N Srinivasan on Thursday said it reflected the growth of Indian players in the world scene as the country had also won the world junior (boys and girls) titles this year.

"It is a unique victory because he had retained the world champion title. It is an outstanding achievement and every Indian is proud of Anand. Every sportsperson in the country will be happy," he told PTI here, reacting to Anand's win over Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn.

"Abhijit Gupta and Dronovalli Harika are the current world junior boy's and girl's champion (they won the titles last month). Vishy crowning himself with glory retaining the world champion title should augur well for furthering India's hold on world chess scene," Srinivasan said.

"This victory will definitely enthuse and give filip to all young Indian aspirants in the sport," Srinivasan, who is also the secretary of the BCCI, said showering praise on Anand. "Anand is a humble and self effacing person. Achievements sit lightly on Anand's shoulders. He is truly a great champion. I am sure he will remain at top for more than another decade," he said.

Pointing out that India boasts of over 8,000 registered players in the FIDE umbrella, Srinivasan said, "It is a tough job for any individual to remain on top amongst the over 16,000 active ELO players under the FIDE and Anand needed to be singled out as the best in the world considering the challengers around him."