‘This is first-ever gold for India at Chess Olympiad in 100 years and we are going to win mor – Firstpost

India have arrived in chess, and how! After years of Viswanathan Anand waging a lone battle to keep the tricolour flying high, the former world champion has witnessed an army of young talent, both men and women, break the hegemony of teams like China and the USA as India claimed their first-ever gold medal at the Chess Olympiad — in both the open and women’s sections. This marks the first time in the 100-year history of the prestigious team tournament that India has come out on top.

The Olympiad’s success signals a potential upcoming world domination in the cerebral sport of chess as the majority of India’s gold medal winners were under 30. One of them was Vidit Gujrathi, the 29-year-old from Nashik who became a Grandmaster in 2013.

Read:
The rapid rise of Indian chess and the leaders behind the revolution

Gujrathi, who also won a silver medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, has been making rapid strides in recent years. In 2023, he defeated Magnus Carlsen, considered by many as the greatest chess player of all time, and won the FIDE Grand Swiss and Gashimov Memorial titles besides participating in the Candidates tournament.

At the Chess Olympiad, Vidit competed in 10 matches on Board 4 and finished the tournament unbeaten with five wins and five draws, holding his ground and helping catapult the team to a historic gold.

Read:
Indian women’s chess finally announces itself with historic Olympiad gold

In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, the 29-year-old Grandmaster discusses India’s rise as a ‘superpower’ in chess, how team bonding played a crucial role in the maiden gold medal win, meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and predicts whether D Gukesh or Ding Liren will win the World Chess Championship.

Excerpts…

Congratulations on winning gold. I think from the lockdown time chess became a very popular sport in a different way as people started following the sport online, then came success at the Candidates and now the Olympiad. It’s been a great journey, you spoke about travelling and being tired. Now that you have time, has the gold medal win sunk in yet?

Vidit: I mean, I am tired, and there’s a lot of stuff going on, but it’s a great problem to have. I’ll pick this problem again and again if it means winning a gold medal. As you rightly said in 2020, there was a change in the perspective of how people looked at chess, and how much popularity it gained. Then the youngsters also did well. We played the Candidates, three Indians for the first time, four Indians in the Chess World Cup quarter-finals. We did well. So there have been these moments of landmarks. You know, in this journey, ChessBase India has done a great job of covering the events. So there have been a lot of things which have been added. And I feel this win, which was such a domination on both men and women makes it even more special. I think going ahead, this event will be looked back upon, you know, like how we mentioned 2020, and Candidates and stuff. I think this event will be talked about a lot going ahead.

The 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai was historic as well with the Indian team winning bronze in the open and women’s section and now gold for both teams. What are the key factors behind the strong improvement from 2022 to 2024?

Vidit: So I think if I speak about the men’s team in particular, we have grown a lot, all of the players. In 2022 we were already strong players, but in these two years, the jump has been monumental. So many of us are in the world’s top 10, top 20. And not just the ranking but also the big wins have come. (R) Praggnanandhaa reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, (D) Gukesh won the Candidates. I won the FIDE Grand Swiss, and Arjun (Erigiasi) rose to world No. 3. So these changes have happened. The strength difference is huge from 2022 and now, in a short duration. This didn’t happen for the other teams. Also, this team was super young, like our average (age) was 20 something and the hunger to win and the aggression we had was not there in other teams. We were winning with the scores of like three plus, whereas other teams are barely winning two and a half. I think these are the key differences, like the strength increased the ability to take risks and the hunger to win was way higher.

How do you rank winning the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad compared to your personal achievements like winning the FIDE Grand Swiss and taking part in Candidates?

Vidit: This tournament and this victory will always be special. I’m very proud of winning Grand Swiss, defeating Hikaru Nakamura twice in Candidates. Those wins, I’m very proud of but playing for India and winning goal is going to have a different feeling. This is the first-ever gold for India in 100 years, and going ahead, we are going to win more, there is no doubt. But the first one will always remain special. And I think people are already saying, this is the dream team. You know, that’s a cool tag to have. On the personal front, I am very happy with the way I played. I scored five wins, five draws, and also against very strong opposition, like in the USA match and other matches, I was playing 2700s on Board 4 as well. So to score those wins and be undefeated, I’m very proud of my plan.

Because you spoke about the dream team. I want to talk about the 2-2 draw to Uzbekistan in Round 9. First time India didn’t win after eight rounds. How difficult was it to recover from there when you guys were so close to medals and there must have been pressure. 

Vidit: I think we were going to win that match as well because Arjun had a winning position. He had a good position and at one point he was even winning and had he done that, I think we would have won that night. So I think we were a little bit disappointed, maybe in our minds, but we had prepared for such a situation. We made it a point in the team that we would not discuss our losses or things that go bad because we always tend to do that, and that never really helps. So we decided that we’d move on quickly, which we did. Otherwise, if we had carried that into the USA match, it would have backfired. So there was no big discussion on how it went. We had a ritual, which we’re doing after the games. We kept doing that. We forgot it. Also, Arjun forgot it, moving on. I think that’s the champions mentality, which we had in the tournament.

If it is okay, can you reveal the ritual that you guys kept doing?

Vidit: It was not always possible to have meals together at dinner and lunch, because we all had different timings of games and when we finished we had to gym and all that, but at night after everything, we used to get together to discuss our plans for the next game, and we also had a lot of lighthearted moments in the room, making a lot of jokes and stuff. But also we had decided before that whoever plays a good game in a match will be given something from the team. We’ll award him some star or something like that. But the problem halfway through the tournament became that we were winning three games in a match. So how are we going to have enough stars but we didn’t want to break the tradition, we’re superstitious. From game one, we were given one star, and the coaches were in a big problem because everybody was winning and it’s a great problem to have. I think even the other teams I saw an interview, I think of (Fabiano) Caruana (American chess Grandmaster), who said that after one point, people were just thinking of second place because first was just way out of reach. India already had clinched it. So that’s a great compliment.

It’s a huge compliment, especially coming from the USA, who were seen as favourites. I want to go back to the idea of team bonding because I believe it plays a major role. Even though chess is different from other team sports, it’s still a team event. More importantly, I think there’s a psychological aspect. When you’re surrounded by similar people, from the same background, who support you, it keeps your spirits high, helping you clinch victories. That bonding was evident even on social media, and I’m sure it contributed to the results. Can you speak about that? Is there someone you’re particularly close to?

Vidit: I was not really sure that this team bonding helps. I still love it because we always had a great time. But people used to say that they won because they had a great team bonding, earlier, I used to think that, how does it matter? Four individual games are there, and then the cumulative score is counted as a team score. If you’re a great player, you will win. That was my thinking. But I think it’s wrong. That’s what I realised, that it does play a role in your approach to the game, your mentality, how when you’re rooting for your teammates, the energy which gives out. You know, also, when somebody is not doing well, you lift them up. You’re there for each other. All these little things, they all add up, and mentally play a role.

Subconsciously, when you’re playing, the positive approach, it cannot be understated. That’s my learning. Earlier also we used to have a great team vibe, I got along with Arjun and Pragg a lot, Hari (Pentala Harikrishna), of course, I have known him for many years. Gukesh used to be more of a private person before, but this time, he really opened up. We saw a different side of Gukesh in the team, and he was such a team player this time and he was more open like he was interacting more, making more jokes. I think even on social media, people were looking at it like, oh Gukesh is smiling in the photos. That kept the positive approach. Also, Srinath (Narayanan) was a great captain because he was individually speaking with everyone, making sure all was fine. Because resting Harikrishna for so many games, is okay or not, and nobody let their ego come in the way. I think that was the key to the team bonding.

Let me touch on how things have unfolded since then. You chose not to defend your title at the Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess Super Tournament in Azerbaijan, returned home, were hosted by the Prime Minister, and then had the felicitation at the Ashoka Hotel. Can you sum it all up for us?

Vidit: I did not think that we would get so much love, honestly. I know that it’s a big victory without a doubt. I know that the chess fraternity knows also that it’s a big victory because they have been following it. But even the general public has given so much love and that is because India was deprived of a gold medal for 100 years. And we were always close. It was always said that in chess, we are going to do well, but both men and women, we did it, and gold, not even like silver in any of it. I think that really resonated with people that India is the superpower in the world, and we are number one. I think that fact is connected. And the video celebration videos then went viral as well. Meeting Modi ji was amazing. I’m so happy that he even mentioned it in his speech when he was in the USA. And it was like an hour ago we had won and he incorporated that in his speech and announced it to the world. That just showed sports really plays an important role in his mind, and he wants to encourage that. He took out time of his busy schedule and gave us. We had so much of a conversation. So it is just a matter of honour, honestly, that we won, and the Prime Minister of the country is acknowledging it and appreciating you. I mean, what more can you ask for?

I’m going to talk about what is to come, and I want to get your opinion on the World Chess Championship match that is going to come. I want you to talk about the moment when China decided not to pit Ding Liren against the Gukesh. There are many things that we can read from that. Did you guys ever discuss that Liren didn’t play against Gukesh?

Vidit: In the team meeting, we were discussing, we’re predicting for the next day that will Ding play or not because he had just lost the game. He was not in good shape in the tournament, and he is not in good shape since he won the World Championship, he even publicly announced that mentally he was not in the right place. When I played him earlier this year, I could see him shivering when he’s playing. You know, I felt so bad when I saw that, like something is really off. I don’t know what it is, but something is really off. I can see him uncomfortable physically when he’s playing but he’s still a very strong player if he just comes back to his normal self. So we were discussing whether he would play or not. In the end, our consensus was that he would play, but some of the players probably thought that he would not. But we were flexible with our approach. We prepared for both situations. It’s a pity, actually, honestly, as a human, I feel bad to see him in this condition, because if he’s at his peak, if he plays well, the World Championship will be a great match. But the way it is right now, I just see him suffering, which makes me sad. I hope he comes back and it’s a good fight. But I’m rooting for Gukesh there’s no doubt.

Lastly, let’s just talk about where you see things going from here, and also from your own perspective because every victory gives an ambition just that much push, and the confidence grows that much higher.

Vidit: Anand Mahindra sir watched the 2020 Olympiad (online) final and he tweeted about it. He then had the idea of having a league. Then he did Global Chess League. One edition has already happened and a second edition is going to happen now. Nobody would have thought that would be the consequence of winning that Gold. So here I don’t know what will happen. You know, India is a superpower, that’s clear. But what will happen next? I don’t know. Like Pragg did so well in the World Cup, and he is now sponsored by Adani group which is such a nice thing that more and more people are coming into the chess fraternity. So this, I don’t know, but I’m hoping that something crazy happens.