Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh recently shared insights about his viral advertisement with chess legend Viswanathan Anand, where they had a funny exchange involving the Gen Z slang “Skibidi.” Gukesh, who made headlines for becoming the youngest World Chess Champion by defeating Ding Liren 7½–6½, opened up in a Q&A session about the commercial’s humorous behind-the-scenes moment.
In the ad, created for an e-commerce platform, Gukesh was supposed to portray a Gen Z figure, but when he came across the term “Skibidi” in the script, he was confused and turned to Anand for clarification. Gukesh laughingly admitted, “I was like, ‘Vishy Sir, what does it mean?’ and he explained it to me. As I understand it, Skibidi means something weird or funny, but I don’t know.”
Gukesh also shared his admiration for the late Bobby Fischer, calling him the “greatest genius of all time” when asked about his chess idol. In the same interview, he revealed that his sleep schedule isn’t the best, especially when he’s at home, but he’s working on improving it. His favorite cartoon is ‘Chota Bheem,’ and he enjoys reading Abhinav Bindra’s biography A Shot at History and Paddy Upton’s The Barefoot Coach.
While Gukesh’s recent performance in the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 ended without a win, he’s gearing up for the upcoming Chess960 tournament in Paris this April.
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