Vidit Gujrathi Biography, Age, Height, Family, Wife, Chess & Facts

Vidit Gujrathi Biography – The Super Grandmaster of Indian chess who started playing at the age of 6!

Family Background of Vidit Gujrathi:

Vidit Gujrathi is an Indian chess player born on October 24, 1994, in Maharashtra, India. His father, Santosh Gujrathi, is a doctor and runs a migraine clinic in Nashik, Maharashtra.

His mother, Nikita Gujrathi, is also a doctor. She quit her job early so that she could travel with her son for chess tournaments.

Vidit has a six-year younger sister named Vedika Gujrathi, who makes chocolates. Also, she had worked with Chessbase India in the past.

Early Life:

He used to play a lot of cricket in his childhood like most Indian boys do. He asked his parents to enroll him in a cricket academy for professional training. But, his parents didn’t allow him for some reason.

In fact, they gave him other choices like Badminton and Chess to learn with professional coaches. He chose chess, as he had some idea about the sport because his father used to play with him a lot.

Soon, he started taking coaching and also started participating in various chess tournaments. He started off as a d4 player and later turned into an e4 player. And that’s how he got into the sport at a very young age.

Education:
He did his schooling at Fravashi Academy in Nashik, Maharashtra.

Vidit Gujrathi Biography:

Vidit Gujrathi’s Profile:
Personal Life:
Full Name	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
Nickname	Montu, VD
Date of Birth	October 24, 1994
Age	30 years 0 months (in November, 2024)
Nationality	Indian
Religion	Hinduism
Zodiac/Sun Sign	Scorpio
Birth Place	Nashik, Maharashtra, India
School	Fravashi Academy in Nashik, Maharashtra
College	–
Physical Stats:
Height (approx)	6ft (1.82 m) (182 cm)
Weight	Not known
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Dark Brown
Family & Relationships:
Father	Santosh Gujrathi
Mother	Nikita Gujrathi
Siblings	1 sister (Vedika)
Career:
Profession	Chess Player
Title	GM (Grandmaster)

Vidit’s Chess Career:

As mentioned already, Gujrathi has started playing chess at a very young age. He played his first-rated tournament between the years 2003 and 2004. Later, he came second in 2005 Under 12 Asian Youth Championships and became the FIDE Master at age 11.

Two years later, in 2008, he achieved his first IM (International Master) norm at Velammal 45th National A Chess Championship. He secured seven points out of the 13 games he played in the tournament. He got his second IM norm at Commonwealth Championship at Nagpur.

The same year, he won a gold medal at the World Youth Chess Championships in the Open under-14 category, held in Vietnam. His incredible performance (nine points in 11 games) earned him his final IM norm. Thus, he became an International Master after FIDE approved his title in 2009.

VD Gujrathi – The Super GrandMaster:

In October 2011, he finished at the 21st position in the Under 20 World Junior Chess Championship in Chennai. He scored 8 out of the 11 points that led him to achieve his first GM (Grand Master) norm.

Then, in October 2012, he finished sixth and scored eight points out of 11. This gained him his second GM norm.

The same year, in December, VD confirmed his final GM norm after securing third place in the Kolkata Open Grandmasters’ chess tournament. FIDE approved his GM title in January 2013. Thus, Vidit Gujrathi became the 30th Grandmaster of India.

In 2013, he took part in World Junior Chess Championship, where he won a Bronze medal in the under 20 section. He then played in several tournaments like Commonwealth Championship, Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Skilling Open, Biel Chess Festival, Grand Swiss Tournament, etc.

The 2020 Olympiad:

Vidit Gujrathi was the captain of the Indian team in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020. He leads the team of players like Srinath Narayanan (vice-captain), Viswanathan Anand, P Harikrishna, Dronavalli Harika, Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, and others.

Both India and Russia were declared as joint winners of the tournament due to the global server outage. It was India’s first-ever gold at an Olympiad.

Later, he qualified for Chess World Cup 2023 where he lost to Nijat Abasov in the quarterfinals in Baku.

Subsequently, in 2023, he qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament by winning the 2023 Grand Swiss. He was the third Indian in the tournament, alongside Gukesh Dommaraju and Praggnanadhaa Rameshbabu. Vidit finished sixth in the Candidates with 6 out of 14 points. However, another Indian, GM Gukesh, won the Candidates with 9 out of 14 points.

2024 Olympiad:

Vidit Gujrathi had a standout performance at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Playing on Board Four, he didn’t lose any games, scoring 7.5 points from 10 matches with five wins and five draws. His steady play was a key factor in helping India win their first-ever gold medal in the Open section.

The Indian men’s team faced strong competition and sealed their win with a crucial victory over Slovenia in the final round. The Indian women’s team also won gold, making it a historic double victory for India.

Facts about Vidit Gujrathi:

• When he was a kid, his parents were keen to play him with senior chess players rather than with his same age group kids.
• His first few chess coaches were Santosh Kappan, Vinod Bhagwat, and Sunil Sharma. Also, he had played under Alon Greenfeld and Abhijit Kunte.
• Vidit’s sister and mom used to travel with him for chess tournaments.
• Favorite:
  • Chess player – Garry Kasparov
  • Sport – Basketball
  • Sportsperson – Milkha Singh
  • TV Shows – FRIENDS and Big Bang Theory
• He is the brand ambassador of AICFB (All India Chess Federation for Blind).
• He is also a chess streamer and also uploads his vlogs on YouTube from time to time.

• Gujrathi used to stream chess on twitch before meeting the stand-up comedian Samay Raina, who advised him to stream on YouTube.
• He was once a second of GM Anish Giri.
• Vidit Gujrathi is currently playing as world no.28 and India’s number five player (April, 2024).

Frequently asked questions on Google:

Social Media Accounts:

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