‘We were cracking up’: Gukesh reveals Vishy Anand and he needed 10-15 takes for Michael Jackson gag in recent ad | Chess News

Chess world champion Gukesh, who currently competing in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, opened up on his experiences on acting in an ad opposite mentor Viswanathan Anand which has garnered a lot of praise for its quirky content.
‘It was one of my first ads. Yeah, I mean, without Vishy Sir, it would have been much more difficult, I think, because, yeah, this is not exactly my character. It was a fun concept, all these funny clothes I was wearing. But with Vishy Sir, it was all fun,” Gukesh said in an interview at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
In the hilarious ad, Anand tells the youngster that he needs his help to connect with Gen Z kids and learn the lingo.

🎬🎥”A good debut in the acting worlds and a good debut at Tata Steel” – @fionchetta and @DGukesh reflect on his acting performance with @vishy64theking! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/OKSzCPN1F1
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) January 19, 2025
“Sir nobody can teach this especially at your age,” Gukesh said in the video before correcting himself quickly “… at your stature, I meant. The thing is you need to know pop culture!”
At this, Anand jumps to his feet and poses like Michael Jackson and says “I know Michael Jackson.”
Gukesh in the interview revealed that the Michael Jackson portion needed 10-15 takes because they would both burst out laughing while shooting it.

It was fun😅 https://t.co/GnPe3Li05y
— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) January 16, 2025
“We were laughing between the shots. And I remember the Michael Jackson step that Vishy Sir did. We did it like 10-15 times because every time each one of us was cracking. But yeah, it was overall a lot of fun. And many people were impressed with my acting,” he said.

On Saturday, Gukesh defeated hometown hero Anish Giri, who had handed his 18-year-old opponent a get-out-of-jail-free card. Gukesh, who won the world championship last month on a similar blunder from his opponent Ding Liren, is not one to refuse gifts across the board.

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