Vishwanathan Anand's wife cleverly roasts Magnus Carlsen at Pongal event: 'They're sharing title'

Chess legend Viswanathan Anand and his wife Aruna Anand recently hosted the most prominent faces of Indian Chess at their house in Chennai for a Pongal celebration. Chess stars Gukesh Dommaraju and Vidit Gujrathi were among those present at the breakfast celebration and a video of the event showed the group laughing and enjoying with Anand and his family.

Gujrathi, who recently got engaged, was welcomed in a traditional South Indian way by Anand and his wife Aruna and the young couple were also part of many rituals to celebrate their upcoming wedding. During one of the rituals, the soon-to-be married couple were seen engaged in a match to find a chess piece at the bottom of a pot of milk to see who would win. As they both pulled out a piece each, those watching laughed and Aruna took the opportunity to take a dig at chess icon Magnus Carlsen.

"Anand, he's saying they are sharing title," she said, prompting a laugh from everyone around including Anand. The comment was a veiled dig at Magnus Carlsen who shared the 2024 World Blitz Chess Championship title with Ian Nepomniachtchi after they tied in the sudden-death tie-break.

Carlsen was accused of match-fixing after a video showed him telling his opponent to “just play short draws until they give up”.

The remark by Aruna was quickly followed by a comment from Vidit. "But, sharing title is now the thing," he interjected to which Anand quipped, "It doesn't end well."

(Also read: 'You can make life exciting by giving yourself little goals': Viswanathan Anand)

Take a look at the video here:

Aruna Anand's joke on Gukesh

The room was filled with laughter again as someone light-heartedly suggested that they should do the rituals with Gukesh now. "Everything is ready, only a girl is needed," said the person off camera, while Gukesh laughed.

Aruna quipped, "That is okay. We can photoshop the girl into the photos later also."

Later, Vidit shared a heartfelt note for the couple for inviting them to celebrations. "Thank you Vihswanathan Anand and Aruna akka for having us in Chennai for Pongal celebration. Your welcome for Nidhi & I in the traditional South Indian way is a memory we will cherish for a long time," he wrote.

Anand also shared a video of the young couple holding hands and sitting on a swing and also exchanging garlands. "On this auspicious day to new beginnings!," he wrote in the caption.

(Also read: Chess champ Magnus Carlsen marries girlfriend Ella Victoria Malone in Norway)