THE WIDE GRIN on his face said it all. It had been several days since Vidit Gujrathi, grandmaster and Indian team captain, and his team of 12 were declared joint winners by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in the first-ever online chess Olympiad. The victory was yet to sink in fully. “Right now, I am just waiting for the gold medal to arrive,” said Gujrathi, who turns 26 in October.
India’s number three chess player, Gujrathi had aimed to break into the world top ten this year, before the pandemic struck. He has a popular YouTube chess channel, is a strong advocate of meditation and loves basketball.
On August 30, the Indian team made history when it was awarded the chess Olympiad gold jointly with Russia, overturning the original decision in Russia’s favour. Two junior players, Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh, lost their internet connections during the last match and forfeited on time, prompting Gujrathi to file an appeal immediately. FIDE ruled in India’s favour despite protests from Russia.
The victory was every bit hard-earned and fair. It tops the Indian team’s previous best performances— in 2014, when it won the bronze in the open section, and the women’s team’s best performance of a fourth-place finish in the 2012 edition.
India was seeded seventh with an average rating of 2419 at the recent Olympiad, which had 163 nations participating, and was placed in Pool A alongside formidable teams like China and Georgia. Each team had to include one male and one female player aged 20 years or less. The top three teams from the three pools advanced to the knockouts.
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