Vidit Gujrathi: Recreating Chess Olympiad 2024 Performance Will Be Hard | Exclusive

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Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi has been a driving force behind the Indian chess team's remarkable achievements in recent years. His stellar performance on Board Four during the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where India secured the gold medal in the Open section, was a testament to his unwavering commitment and skill.

Gujrathi's contribution of 7.5 points from 10 games helped India maintain an unbeaten run, which he humbly credits to the team's collective effort.

Reflecting on India's historic double gold, Vidit shared, "As you said, we made history. This is the first gold medal for India in both sections. The tournament was extremely competitive, with 189 countries sending their best players, and we won two gold medals, which is historic."

Pravin Thipsay, a renowned Indian chess grandmaster, hailed this group of players as the "Golden Generation of Indian Chess." Vidit, while grateful, prefers to stay grounded. "It feels really great, especially after winning the gold medal. It seems right that he called us the Golden Generation. People's expectations of us will increase in the future, but right now, I just want to enjoy this moment."

India's performance at the Olympiad improved from its bronze medal finish in 2022. Vidit acknowledged this progress, stating, "We were learning from our mistakes and correcting them. From day one, when we won 4-0, we didn't look back after that. Everybody was in good shape and focused on their duties. It will be hard to recreate such a performance."

In the last two years, the 29-year-old has had a brilliant run: he won the Grand Swiss, defeated Magnus Carlsen, won the Gashimov Memorial, secured a silver medal at last year's Asian Games, and a gold in the Chess Olympiad.

Vidit humbly reflected on his personal achievements over the past two years saying, "I had to make a lot of changes in myself. My game had become stagnant. I worked a lot on my personality, made sacrifices, and when you start winning big medals, it feels like you're on the right path."