The chess field often gets the stereotype of being a boring and sober field, but the recent viral photo of legendary Indian chess Grand Master Viswanathan Anand and upcoming chess players Alexandra Valeria Botez and Andrea Botez is sure to give a different impression.
The Photo That Went Viral
On February 29, American-Canadian chess player Alexandra Valeria Botez shared a photo on her X/Twitter of herself, her sister Andrea and Indian chess Grand Master Viswanathan Anand.
She captioned the post as “Why does it look like we took Viswanathan Anand hostage” and the photo ended up going viral mostly because of the expression Anand was sporting in the photo which had people adding even more hilarious comments to it.
Alexandra Botez and Andrea Botez are both excellent chess players themselves and are known for the live streams of their chess games on YouTube and Twitch.
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Another user wrote “He’s thinking about the next move,” while one commented, “He is thinking of a move where the King is between 2 Queens and no pawns on the board.”
One user wrote “He is afraid, what if you make a wrong move,” whereas another replied, “He is just strategising his next move, how to play with two queens.”
Several also played into the hostage comment writing “Release him” or “Blink twice Vishy” and, “Both his hands tucked behind, there’s more than a chance that he’s being taken hostage. Those eyes don’t lie!”
One person replied “Man has already planned the next 10 moves. He is not in danger, he is the danger” and another said, “If you have any Indian relatives, that’s a look you get quite familiar with.”
Some even commented about how Anand must be afraid of his wife’s reaction to the photo writing “He might be scared of his wife” and “Nothing. It’s just his wife is clicking the snap. Not easy bruh!”
In an even more hilarious turn of events, Anand followed up on the original post and added further to the plot by sharing a post on his social media writing, “At the Airport. My Kidnappers, let me go.”
He further added “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.”
The chess Grandmaster explained his joke by writing “Since this is a race, black should play Kd5 Slowing the white king march to the Queen side And a quicker hostage release!”
Anand, a legendary five-time world champion and India’s first grandmaster since 1988 also commented on the evolving face of Indian chess saying “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.”
Overall it was truly an incident where everyone had a fun time taking everything in a humourous manner and having a good laugh.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Business Today, India Today, Hindustan Times
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Viswanathan Anand, Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess Grand Master, Indian chess, Grand Master Viswanathan Anand, Viswanathan Anand chess, Alexandra Valeria Botez, Andrea Botez, Botez sisters, Chess players, Chess
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