Viswanathan Anand hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi after PM's unique gesture

What's the story?

Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand took to Twitter in order to praise PM Narendra Modi's decision to gift the Prince of Bhutan a chess set along when Bhutan's royal family visited the Prime Minister for an interaction during their visit to India.

For a long time now, Viswanathan Anand has strived to develop the sport of chess and was very happy when he learnt that the PM had gifted the prince a chess set as he tweeted that it was the perfect gift for the young child as it was sure to develop the child's mental and social skills.

@narendramodi . Great idea to gift the Prince of Bhutan a chess set. An ideal tool for a child’s mind & social skill development. Thank you.

— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) November 2, 2017

In case you didn't know

Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is touring India on an official visit along with his queen Jestun Pema Wangchuck and their son, the Prince of Bhutan who will be turning two next year.

The Royal family are on a four-day goodwill visit and enjoyed a long interaction with the PM, who happily obliged to host them at his residence and at the end of the visit, gifted the young prince a chess set and a football.

Presented the Prince of Bhutan an official football from the FIFA U-17 World Cup and a chess set. pic.twitter.com/91xLRURPnJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 1, 2017

The heart of the Matter

Anand created history by becoming India's first chess grandmaster in 1988 at the raw age of just 19 years old. A man who firmly believes in his own skill rather than playing mind games with his opposition player, Anand's meteoric rise in the sport saw him win the Padma Shri at a very young age of 18.

In 2000, Anand emerged as the champion of the prestigious FIDE World Chess Championships that also meant that he was the first Indian to win the title. Perched on top of the world rankings for an extended period of time, he played out some strong competition to clinch the World Championship in 2007. In 2008, he defended his title with some classic moves before he overcame some obstacles and massive moves from his opponent to win his fourth World Championship title in 2010.

In 2012, he continued his good run to beat Boris Gelfand in the finals before he lost his title to Magnus Carlsen in 2013 after a strong-fought battle.

Sportskeeda's Take

With a plethora of records to his name, Anand's contributions towards the growth of the sport in India has been phenomenal. Given that PM Modi gifted a chess set to the prince, it comes as no surprise that the grandmaster has some nice words for him.