Putin meets with chess champ Anand, runner-up Gelfand for tea

Russian president lauds Israeli, Indian players for ‘an outstanding game’

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has met with world chess champion Viswanathan Anand and runner-up Boris Gelfand over a cup of tea in his residence.

Putin lauded both players for “an outstanding game.”

India’s Anand beat Gelfand of Israel on Wednesday 2.5-1.5 in a rapid tiebreaker following a 6-6 draw played at the Tretyakov Gallery, one of Russia’s finest museums.

Gelfand, who was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated from Belarus to Israel in 1998, was cheered throughout the match as if he were a home player.

Anand told Putin over tea Thursday that he had learned to play chess in a Soviet cultural center in his hometown when he was a child.