Mere pass panch hai! Godfather of Indian chess reminds young stars

Viswanathan Anand has jokingly reminded the supremely talented young batch of Indian chess comprising R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh that he is still the King of the board game in the country.

In a series of posts reviewing the Tata Steel Masters event that concluded Sunday night at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, Vishy took a subtle dig under a photo of the freshly-crowned champion Praggnanandhaa. Vishy wrote: "Mere pass panch hai .. IYKYK!" (I have five.. If You Know You Know).

The funny remark could be seen as a continuation of a recent advertisement he did with World Champion Gukesh, in which he played the 'GenZ-lingo-illiterate' but still put the teenager in place by reminding him who's got more titles. Vishy has five World Chess Championship titles.

Praggnanandhaa had defeated Gukesh in tie-breakers to win his maiden Tata Steel Masters title. Vishy has won five titles at the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament.

Vishy, who reigned as India's No. 1 for more than three decades, is not quite active these days. He is currently third among Indians in FIDE ratings, behind Erigaisi and Gukesh, while Praggnanandhaa is close on his heels. Nevertheless, Vishy's occasional reminders to the young generation make them realise they have much to accomplish to emulate the Godfather of Indian chess.