NEW DELHI: Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi played a crucial part in the Indian team’s title success in the Open section at the recently-held Chess Olympiad in Budapest. He played on Board Four and scored 7.5 points from his 10 games to finish fourth in performance rating. He notched up five victories in India’s unbeaten run at the Olympiad.
Vidit said that such was the country’s dominance at the event that at one point, other competing nations had only runners-up finish on their mind.”India has definitely become a chess superpower after the historic show at the Olympiad. In this tournament, I saw some of the competitors talking about us and they were in disbelief about our performance. Several countries were telling us ‘We are thinking of the second spot, you (India) are assured of the gold’. I used to tell them ‘There was never a doubt,'” Vidit told TOI on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old from Maharashtra’s Nashik said that India grew confident of securing the gold after the penultimate round win against the USA. “When we won against the USA it was pretty much clear that the gold was ours. Also, the game against China was crucial which we won. I think that victory really changed the momentum,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. (PTI Photo)
Apart from clinching the men’s and women’s team titles in a rare clean sweep, India also secured four individual gold medals at the Olympiad. Talking about his own performance, Vidit said, “I played 10 games, so it was quite demanding. Every game I played used to last five hours because I like to play long games. Sometimes, I got tired in the end. But I am happy with the fact that I didn’t lose a single game and scored five important victories for the team. I couldn’t have asked for more. Now, I am looking forward to visiting my family. It’s been three weeks since I last met them,” Vidit said.
Vidit, who had flown to Baku, Azerbaijan to defend his crown at Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess Tournament, rushed back to New Delhi for an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. “I reached Baku and I got to know our Hon’ble PM wants to felicitate the Indian team. I was overjoyed when I heard this and I wanted to be a part of it,” he wrote on ‘X’.
Vidit achieved the title of GM in Jan 2013, becoming the 30th Indian to do so and the fourth to surpass an Elo rating of 2700. In 2023, he made history by qualifying for a FIDE Candidates tournament after winning the FIDE Grand Swiss.
He captained the Indian team to victory in the Online Chess Olympiad in 2020. In 2022, he competed in the FIDE Grand Prix and qualified for the Chess World Cup 2023, defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the round of 16. His triumph in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 earned him a place in the 2024 Candidates Tournament, where he finished sixth, notably defeating Hikaru Nakamura twice.
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