Netizens laud Viswanathan Anand's classy reply to Nikhil Kamath; say 'respect quadrupled'

The fundraiser chess match event 'Checkmate COVID' organised by Chesscom India took a shocking turn after Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath checkmated five-times world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand. Viswanathan Anand on Sunday participated in a charity Chess match along with various celebrities to raise funds for COVID-19 relief. Although Anand defeated all other celebrities in the match, the Indian grandmaster lost to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath. However,  Nikhil Kamath on Monday took to his Twitter handle and admitted to using unfair means to defeat Anand. 

Netizens laud Viswanathan Anand after he responds to Nikhil Kamath 'Cheating' row

As soon as Nikhil Kamath admitted that he had help from 'people analyzing the game and computers', in essence, that he had used unfair means, Viswanathan Anand broke his silence and responded to the billionaire. Taking a subtle dig at the entrepreneur's unusual methods of playing, Anand quipped, "It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game." The Indian chess grandmaster added that he just played the "position on the board and expected the same from everyone" as he shared Kamath's statement on Twitter. 

Following this, people on social media hailed the Indian Grandmaster and termed him 'A True Gentleman'. This is how netizens reacted:

Nikhil Kamath account banned

As soon as Nikhil Kamath defeat Viswanathan Anand, various reports surfaced suggesting that the entrepreneur had cheated in the game. Soon after the game, the platform on which the matches were organised - Chesscom India - imposed a ban on Nikhil Kamath's account and also issued a statement defending its move. 

"No account closure brings us joy, but we remain committed and work hard to ensure that all chess games are played fairly on Chess.com, and we will continue to invest heavily in our team and systems to ensure the safety and happiness of our users," Chess.com had said in a statement. 

AICF condemns Nikhil Kamath's 'unfair methods'

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) Secretary Bharat Chauhan, responding to the infamous incident, said that it was unfortunate to see unfair methods employed in a charity chess game by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath. The AICF secretary termed it as a "bad" move by Kamath and said it shouldn't have happened. "It is very unfortunate it was a charity match. We don't expect anybody to get help from computers, at the national and state level we are following the protocols. We are putting cameras where players are playing and there is a fair play committee which includes three grandmasters and two players," Bharat told ANI.

Viswanathan Anand's career

Viswanathan Anand's career saw a meteoric rise as he took the Indian domestic chess scene by storm in the 1980s. In just a span of 8 years, Anand went from being relatively unknown to becoming India's first Grandmaster in 1988. A five-time world chess champion, he became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list. He was also the first person to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - India's highest sporting honour - in 1991–92. In 2007, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award.

(Image Credits: @NIKHILKAMATHCIO/Twitter/PTI)