‘Dance classes should become part of WACA curriculum’

The who’s who of Indian chess turned out in full force at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune as grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi married Nidhi, is a homeopathic doctor. The celebrations for the event saw plenty of dancing with even India’s chess royalty — the 15th World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the newly-crowned World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju — dancing their hearts out on the floor.
Anand, in particular, was a sensation when he turned up on stage to join Vidit for a “Main Hoon Don” jig. Gukesh too was spotted dancing to songs like Badri ki Dulhaniya and Kaala Chasma during the festivities.
Elite grandmasters like Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa were also in attendance for the wedding in Pune.
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“Upon analysing the moves at the wedding, me and Vishy sir came to the conclusion that dance classes should become part of the WACA curriculum,” joked Vidit’s good friend, Dutch GM Anish Giri, who attended the wedding with his spouse.
WACA is Westbridge Anand Chess Academy, the chess academy started Anand during the pandemic, which provided Indian prodigies like Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali and many others training and mentorship from elite trainers like Boris Gelfand.
One of the funniest men in the sport, Giri had also joked earlier: “If Magnus (Carlsen) and Fabi (Fabiano Caruana) aren’t planning to dance, then why even bother.”
While Carlsen and Caruana were not at the wedding, the rest of the grandmasters did shake a leg on the stage.

Beautiful moment from GM Vidit Gujrathi’s wedding!
Look closely and you’ll find Vishy, Gukesh, Anish, Tania, Sagar, and more pic.twitter.com/ppLlkZjYMi
— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 3, 2025
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WATCH: Elite players dance in Vidit’s baraat

Chess legends danced in @viditchess’s Baraat! pic.twitter.com/j1eajUrq9G
— Chess.com – India (@chesscom_in) April 3, 2025
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WATCH: Vishy Anand dances to Main Hoon Don

What a wholesome moment @vishy64theking
Video: Sagar and Ashwin#chess #chessbaseindia #vishyanand pic.twitter.com/HkATONhsu1
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) April 3, 2025
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WATCH: Gukesh dancing at Vidit’s wedding
Gukesh, the youngest world champion of the world, was spotted dancing to songs like Badri ki Dulhaniya and Kaala Chasma.

Gukesh got some moves
Edit: @ram_abhyudaya#chess #chessbaseindia #gukesh (Video: Aishal Weddings / Ashwin ) pic.twitter.com/ETjoimogPO
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) April 3, 2025
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