Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi stuns world champion Magnus Carlsen

PTI, Feb 22, 2023, 5:38 PM IST

Chennai: Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi became the fourth Indian to stun Norwegian chess wizard Magnus Carlsen, in a Pro Chess League online match.

Playing for team Indian Yogis, Gujrathi capitalised on a mistake committed by world number one Carlsen, who missed a checkmate late on Tuesday.

Carlsen was playing for Canada Chessbrahs in the Pro Chess League, an online tournament for teams from all over the world. The event features 16 teams playing rapid games and has a USD 150,000 prize fund.

This was Carlsen’s maiden victory over the reigning world champion.

Significantly, Gujrathi won the match with black pieces as he exploited a tactical oversight from his famous opponent.

The 28-year-old Gujrathi thus joined the likes of fellow Indian GMs R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi to defeat Carlsen. The trio had earlier pulled off wins over the Norwegian superstar in various events last year.

“It is an amazing feeling to defeat the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of chess and I couldn’t have asked for a better moment,” Gujrathi said.

In the Pro Chess League match, the Indian team led by Gujrathi and comprising Vaishali, Raunak and Aronyak won against Carslen, Aryan Tari, Razvan Preotu and Jennifer Yu to go into the final round with deficit of just one point.

As per the format, the team that scores 8.5 first wins the game. And the Yogis simply turned the tables by winning on all the four board with Gujrathi leading the pack on the top board.

“Striking victory at the crucial moment and the team winning on all four boards even makes it more special. I’ve come very close on a few occasions to edge over Magnus (Carlsen) but couldn’t capitalise on it,” Gujrathi said.

“Glad that I’ve finally done it. Credit to all the players, team and our coach R B Ramesh. After yesterday’s amazing performance, everyone’s mood in the team is very high, and hopefully, we make it big this time.”