13 January,2025 12:54 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
In Pic: GM Viswanathan Anand, D Gukesh & others
Legendary GM Viswanathan Anand hosted a party and invited some of the nation's top chess players. World Champions D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Gujrathi attended the party. During the celebration, the wizards marked the Tamil harvest festival of Pongal. Everyone present at the festival was dressed in traditional attire and was seen shaking a leg together. The videos of them enjoying their time together are now going viral.
In a video that is now going viral, we can see all the guests, including Gukesh, dancing in traditional attire. They were all seen shaking a leg to the tune of a famous Rajinikanth song. They were seen enjoying themselves as âManasilaiyo' from Superstar Rajini's latest flick âVettaiyan' played in the background. The video shows Anand hesitating before he broke into dancing, and the youngsters were seen mimicking his steps.
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D Gukesh made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Champion in chess, beating Ding Liren of China in the 14-game match. The 18-year-old from Chennai capitalized on a blunder by Ding in the winner-takes-all 14th game to dethrone the champion, winning the match 7.5 to 6.5 and becoming only the second Indian to win the World Chess Championship.
Soon after his win, social media was flooded with congratulatory messages from well-known faces. Personalities from the Indian film industry also took to social media to congratulate D Gukesh for his historic win. Kangana Ranaut, S.S. Rajamouli, Amitabh Bachchan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Ayushmann Khurrana, Jr. NTR, and many others heaped praise on D Gukesh after his historic victory at the World Chess Championship.
Overwhelmed with emotions after his victory, Gukesh termed it the "best moment of his life" during the post-match press conference. Gukesh also spoke about an emotional phone call with his mother after his victory, saying, "We were both crying." The young lad was in tears as he finished the game. He stepped out, hugged his father first, and started crying in joy.