Chess Olympiad 2024: Vidit Gujrathi delighted to script history with India in Budapest

Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi was just another Indian kid who dreamt of becoming a cricketer in his childhood before an accidental initiation to chess, which he feels was a “very happy accident”.

Gujrathi was part of the five-member Indian men’s team that won a historic gold in the open category of the recent Chess Olympiad in Budapest. To make the achievement more memorable, the Indian women’s team also bagged the gold, making it a double celebration for the country.

“It was accidental. I was six years old and I was very mischievous as a child. My parents wanted to engage me in some activity,” Gujrathi told PTI in an interview.

“I used to play cricket like every Indian kid. He took me to a club and cricket was played with a season ball there. My dad told me to wait for a year and then play cricket, and until then, to pick another sport. So I started chess.

“My father taught me and I wanted to win against him, so that was the motivation. It was an accident but a very happy accident,” he added.

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The 29-year-old from Nashik became a Grandmaster in 2013 and was also a part of India’s silver medal-winning side at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

“It has not sunk in yet but I do know this achievement is going to stay with us for a long time. A score of 21 out of 22, the highest-ever and it would be hard to break this record. With the women’s team also winning gold, it was double the joy. You cannot write such a perfect script,” Gujrathi said.

“This was the same team that played in the Asian Games. That was the first time we all were together. We won silver there and there were lessons that we learnt there. This time, we came with a new vibe – we were rooting for each other, celebrating each others’ success,” he added.

Gujrathi explained that there were talks of India being one of the favourites right after the team was drafted, but the thought never got to his head.

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“As we got closer to the event, we started to realise that pressure had started to build. But what took the pressure off is when we started to play we won first game 4-0, second game 4-0,” he said.

“This was my fourth Olympiad in person and I played two online. Winning gold in the Chess Olympiad is a dream-come-true moment for any chess player

Now, he just wants to meet his family and celebrate the success with them.

“I want to celebrate and meet my family. Without them, I would have not been here. I want to celebrate with them,” said the player, whose parents as well as sister are doctors.