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regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Vidit Gujrathi stuns Magnus Carlsen

Playing for team Indian Yogis, Gujrathi capitalised on mistake committed by world No.1

PTI Chennai Published 23.02.23, 03:29 AM
Vidit Gujrathi (left); Magnus Carlsen

Vidit Gujrathi (left); Magnus Carlsen Twitter & Reuters

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 the world No.1, who missed a checkmate late on Tuesday.

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Carlsen was playing for Canada Chessbrahs in the Pro Chess League. The event features 16 teams playing rapid games and has a $150,000 prize money.

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 compatriots 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.

In August, Praggnanandhaa had defeated Carlsen thrice in a row at FTX Crypto Cup. Erigaisi got the better of Carlsen in the preliminaries of the Aimchess Rapid online chess tournament in October.

“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 the 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 RB Ramesh. After yesterday (Tuesday)’s amazing performance, everyone’s mood in the team is very high, and hopefully, we make it big this time.”

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