Viswanathan Anand is not only a legend of Indian sport but he seems to have great sense of humour too. On Friday, the man, who has been instrumental in making chess attractive for many Indian kids, posted an interesting plea on social media medium X. "At the Airport! My Kidnappers, let me go. @alexandrabotez @itsandreabotez," he wrote. At first sight, such a post would raise tension. The comment went viral on social media too. However, Viswanathan Anand quickly started a X thread to allay any fears of his fans.
Alexandra Botez and Andrea Botez are chess players, who also double up as content creators on social media. Viswanathan Anand's post was in jest and it involved a chess move.
"Alexandra Botez told me I had to solve a chess position to win my freedom. Andrea asked what Black should play in this position. I told her Kd5, and they let me go," Anand later added in a X thread.
"Extra explanation: Since this is a race, black should play Kd5 Slowing the white king march to the Queen side. And a quicker hostage release!" he added further.
Viswanathan is a five-time world champion. Anand also became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and has the eighth highest peak FIDE rating of all-time. Last year he said that this is a golden time for Indian chess. Anand was quoted as saying that he was amazed by the fact that most of the current lot possesses a 2,700-plus Elo rating, especially below 20 years of age, terming it "special".
"I'm throwing in the title early, but they are a golden generation. They are all in the 2,700-plus group (Elo rating). And they're all under 20. That just does not happen; it's really something special.
"And what this means, and the reason I call them the golden generation, is they're going to spend the next ten years at the top. With varying career trajectories, of course, but they're going to spend the next 10 years being rivals and colleagues and friends and everything."In Friday, he posted an interesting line on X.
Recently, the chess legend grabbed the limelight at Lollapalooza 2024 by enthusiastically singing along in the crowd during iconic singer Sting's performance on stage. He delivered classic lines from The Police's hit song "Roxanne," and a video capturing Mr Viswanathan's joyous moment went viral, prompting widespread applause on the internet.
Viswanathan took to social media platform X to share his fanboy moment, he wrote, "When I was very young, songs like "Every Breath You Take" and "Roxanne" by The Police made a huge impression on me. Fast forward to now, and I can say I know most of their songs and Sting's solo albums as well. They've been a constant on my playlist over the years."