Credit: Twitter
Fans of former world champion Vishwanathan Anand have found themselves in an unusual situation. The Chess player’s Twitter account has published a series of bizarre posts, and nobody can tell what to make of it. The posts themselves are rather innocent, simple chess puns accompanying a photo of Anand over a chessboard, but the frequency and tongue-in-cheek nature of them have got fans wondering if it really is the work of the reserved and polite Grandmaster, with many suspecting the involvement of a potential hacker.
The first two posts were unremarkable enough and appeared to fans to simply be typical social media postings. One reads “Hey there, just checking in on you,” (a pun with the Chess move of checking your opponent) and the other says “trying to look as “jawan” as SRK.”
Fans initially just greeted the iconic Chess player in the replies. It wasn’t until the account shared two more posts that suspicions would begin to rouse. ‘Anand’ then posted a couple of cheeky puns, saying “You can call me a pawn star I guess” and “Here’s a cheque, mate”. It was at this point that Twitter residents got suspicious and speculated that a hacker was behind the posts.
Check some viral reactions:
Others pointed out that the photos might have been AI-generated.
A third theory that quickly gained steam in the comments was that this was all a part of an advertising campaign by the agency Cred. Anand collaborated with Cred in January of this year, and this may well be another stunt designed to generate hype through speculation and controversy.
Anand is currently tied in sixth place at the recent Grand Chess Tour with Gukesh D. The legendary Grandmaster has had a poor showing at the recent tournament, including a shocking loss to rank thirteen Gukesh D earlier this week.
