World Champion Gukesh Gets Tattoo And Roasts Anand In New Ad

World Chess Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Viswanathan Anand's talents extend beyond the chessboard, as they demonstrated in a hilarious new video ad.

Gukesh has been doing anything but playing chess since winning the title from GM Ding Liren in Singapore one month ago, such as bungee jumping, meeting VIPs, and accepting prestigious awards.

Now the 18-year-old has also made his debut as an actor, appearing in an ad for e-commerce giant Myntra, directed by one of India's leading ad and content writers, Vishal Dayama. Gukesh is joined by five-time World Champion Anand in the video, which takes place in a tattoo studio.

We guarantee that you've never seen the grandmasters quite like this!

It was fun😅 https://t.co/GnPe3Li05y

— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) January 16, 2025

The ad shows the teenager getting a tattoo on his arm, saying he wants a memory of his most iconic moment inked. Anand then asks him what it feels like to be the world champion.

"Amazing, sir! So many people want to touch the trophy!" Gukesh says. As Anand responds, "Actually, I wanted to check if..." he's interrupted by the teenager: "Of course, sir! You can touch!"

Of course, sir! You can touch!

—Gukesh to Anand

But the witty legend is quick to hit back: “Touch? Mere paas paanch hain! ["I have five of those myself"—in Hindi] Do you want to touch four more?”

Gukesh then tells Anand that everyone should get their iconic moments inked, to which Anand responds: “Nahi yaar, mere dono haath bhar jaayenge." ["No man, both my arms will be covered if I did that."]

The two stars seem like a perfect match for the e-commerce giant's new ad for Gen-Z new clothing brand fwd. The ad continues with Anand asking Gukesh for help to connect with Gen-Z lingo. The 18-year-old responds: "Sir, nobody can teach this, especially at your age... at your stature, I meant!" 

Sir, nobody can teach this, especially at your age... at your stature, I meant!

—Gukesh to Anand

For Anand, it wasn't the first time he appeared in an ad, but it was the first time he appeared in an ad with someone who didn't pretend to be a chess player. He explained to Chess.com that they had a lot of fun shooting the ad, but there were some challenges too.

🌟 @vishy64theking shared his thoughts about the ad with @DGukesh for FWD-@myntra! 🎙️ @VishalDayama

Listen 👇 pic.twitter.com/DlhcnxdCL9

— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) January 16, 2025

"Normally Gukesh is very polite, but here he had to develop a certain form of arrogance, and I had to make some bad jokes," he said. "There were a couple of bits... when I had to do the 'Michael Jackson cringe move,' where we had to redo it because Gukesh started laughing."

Normally Gukesh is very polite, but here he had to develop a certain form of arrogance, and I had to make some bad jokes.

—Anand on the ad

"In the end it worked out well, and it's pretty nice to see it out today," Anand added. Chess.com India also spoke with director Vishal, who said filming Anand was "a dream come true."

"They were fantastic in front of the camera! I knew I was not getting actors, but they didn't get angry even if I asked them to do things in a certain way," he said. Vishal explained that Gukesh struggled not cracking up when Anand was doing his Michael Jackson line. "He made Vishy do it ten times because we were always catching a smile."

Whether Gukesh will keep smiling remains to be seen when he goes back to work and returns to what he does best—making moves on the chessboard. Tata Steel Chess begins in the Netherlands on Saturday.