Aamir Khan-Viswanathan Anand's chess duel to raise COVID-19 relief funds
Aamir Khan will take on former world champion Viswanathan Anand in a game of chess to raise funds for COVID-19 relief. An online forum Chess.com announced about the match on their Twitter handle recently, informing that it will help raise fund for chess community members who have been affected by the virus. To note, Khan has played chess against Anand previously as well.
The forum said in their tweet, "The moment you all have been waiting for! Superstar Aamir Khan, ardent chess lover, will be playing an exhibition match against former world champion Vishy Anand! Please feel free to donate generously to make this event a success." The virtual event has been named a cheeky Checkmate Covid. Many top celebrities like Sajid Nadiadwala might also participate.
The moment you all have been waiting for!
— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) June 7, 2021
Superstar Aamir Khan, an ardent chess lover, will be playing an exhibition match against former world champion Vishy Anand! (@vishy64theking)
Please feel free to donate generously to make this event a success. https://t.co/mgOmSwr54n pic.twitter.com/YFyK1oeka2
Not only Khan and Nadiadwala, known faces such as Arijit Singh, Riteish Deshmukh, Ananya Birla, Manu Kumar Jain (Xiaomi India MD), are among the many others who will take on the Indian chess grandmaster. Hrithik Roshan also gave it a boost by posting a video.
According to the organizers, the match will be streamed live on June 13 from 5 PM to 8 PM on Chesscom's YouTube channel. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is also one of the hosts. Interestingly, the two stalwarts had battled it out on the chess-board in 2015 as well. They share a good bond over their love for chess, and had first met in 2001.
In fact, Anand had also chosen Khan as the actor to portray him on celluloid. "It [would be] nice to have a chess-playing actor, if that got to happen. I say Aamir Khan. That 's the name I usually give out," said the shy champ.
For now, Khan is busy completing his venture Laal Singh Chaddha. The film directed by Advait Chandan is the official Hindi remake of Tom Hanks's Oscar winning drama Forrest Gump. The film also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan in a pivotal role. Khan, being a known perfectionist, also went completely off social media to concentrate on the film. It might release on Christmas 2021.
While quitting social media, the 3 Idiots star had said that it's better to drop the pretense, considering he isn't active on these platforms. He had gone offline before that, and a source had said then, "Khan feels that he is addicted to his cellphone and that's impacting his personal and professional space." Khan bowed out of social media just after his birthday.
