Viswanathan Anand meets Russian President Vladimir Putin

Newly-crowned world chess champion Viswanathan Anand and runner-up Boris Gelfand on Thursday met Russian President Vladimir Putin over a cup of tea at his residence.

Anand, who clinched his fifth World championship title on Wednesday, beating Gelfend in a tie-breaker 2.5-1.5 after their 12-game affair ended in a draw, revealed that he had learnt chess in a Soviet cultural center in his hometown when he was a child.

"So we brought this on ourselves!" Putin said.

Putin heaped praise on both the players for their "outstanding game."

This was Anand's fourth world title in a row. The Indian chess wizard bagged his first world title in 2000 before winning three in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2010. He has been the world champion since 2007.