 "Viswanathan Anand shows off dance skills with D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi; see video")
The legendary Viswanathan Anand as well as current superstars D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi are primarily known for their exploits on a chess board more than anything else. It is therefore a welcome change to see them making headlines for their dancing skills.
Five-time world champion Anand hosted reigning world champion Gukesh along with a host of other chess stars for Pongal breakfast at his Chennai residence recently. And the icing on the cake was the legend and his disciples shaking a leg while clad in traditional veshtis.
Watch their dance moves here:
Impromptu dance ft. @vishy64theking @DGukesh @rpraggnachess @viditchess @sagarchess1 @ChessbaseIndia and others! pic.twitter.com/ZIzwKaqRMd
— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) January 12, 2025
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and the rest appeared somewhat hesitant initially, but the room was soon full of energy and laughter once they followed Anand’s lead.
Anand is widely seen as the man responsible for nurturing the current generation of Indian chess stars , having set up the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) in December 2020. Gukesh, who had recently become the youngest chess world champion of all time and the second Indian after Anand, was part of WACA’s first batch of players.
Gukesh, Vidit, Pragg and top-ranked Indian Arjun Erigaisi had won gold in dominant fashion at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest in September. The women’s team comprising Praggnanandhaa’s sister R Vaishali as well as Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal and Tania Sachdev would also win gold in the same competition, resulting in India becoming only the third nation to complete a golden double at the prestigious competition .
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfter his triumph over Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren in the FIDE World Championship in Singapore, Gukesh will next be seen in the action at the Tata Steel Chess that gets underway in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Friday along with Arjun, Praggnanandhaa and Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna.
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