Indian chess Grandmaster D Gukesh has shared a video of him grooving to Rajinikanth's new chartbuster, 'Manasilayo' on social media. Swapping out his chess moves for dance moves, the star player was seen dancing with a group while wearing traditional attire.
Dressed in a red kurta, 'veshti' and sunglasses, Gukesh can be seen following the popular song's hook steps along with his family and friends who are similarly dressed. To end the video, the chess star walks up to the camera, smiles and signs off. “Manasilayo...with my family friends!” he captioned the post.
The 18-year-old, who was crucial to India's historic first-ever gold medal win at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, is currently on a break.
The teenager was praised for his extraordinary performance at the event where he won 9 out of 10 games. His phenomenal victory helped him secure a gold medal and catapulted the Indian team to the top.
“Since what happened last time where we were so close to team gold but this time I thought no matter what I am going to do whatever it takes to win this team gold for India. So I did not think of the individual performance, I just wanted the team to win,” he had said in a post-match interview, adding that he chose to miss the Bermuda party, a highly-anticipated event at the Chess Olympiad, so that he could focus on his game. (Also read: Did the gold-winning Team India party during Chess Olympiad 2024? Gukesh reveals)
He quickly shot up to the world top 20 and even neared chess legend Viswanathan Anand's record, becoming the second highest-rated chess player in India. Gukesh, along with his teammates, was felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Next, the grandmaster will face Chinese champion Ding Liren at the upcoming World Championship in Singapore. The event will be held from November 20 to December 15 and the winner will get a prize of $2.5 million.
