Shubham Kumthekar

Vidit Gujrathi: “Whenever I lost to Dad, it angered me to learn more!”

A couple of weeks back, Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi won the Lake Sevan Tournament, a category 16 event with talented young Grandmasters competing, for the second time in his career. An affable person that he is, Vidit readily agreed for an interview with us and went on to talk about his victory, the Indian Chess Team, his first steps into the Chess world, and much more!

Shubham Kumthekar: Hello Vidit! Hearty congratulations on winning the Lake Sevan tournament for the second time. How good does it feel?

Vidit Gujrathi: It feels great to win such a strong tournament. It had been a long time since I won an individual tournament, which made this win even more special.

SK: This tournament is traditionally characterized by a field of young and upcoming strong Grandmasters, which leads to meaty play more often than not. How do you approach a closed event like this, where every player is willing to fight it out?

VG: It is definitely more fun! I had some plan before the tournament, but as it always happens, you never completely follow it. During the drawing of lots, I understood that I will play 5 blacks and 4 whites, so it meant that I had to try and put pressure in every game.

SK: Which one of your games from Lake Sevan did you like the most? Can you tell us something about it?

VG: From a purely objective point of view, I was happy with my technique against Onischuk as it was my first win after a few draws. But, the game against Sevian from the penultimate round will definitely be the most memorable as it was a tough game that lasted 5.5 hours. A championship game which lasts this long, is for sure very stressful and nerve-racking 🙂

After a series of draws from Round 2 to 5, Vidit won a crucial game against Vladimir Onischuk in Round 6. (Source: sevan.chessacademy.am)

SK: Your results at the Lake Sevan tournaments have been noteworthy – an impressive victory in 2014, a respectable third place in 2015 and another victory this year. What is it that you like about the event or brings the best out of you?

VG: I always thought my chess playing style is more suited to Closed tournaments than Open events. Also, somehow I am more motivated to play when I play a strong GM every round.

SK: Now, let’s move to this picture! How did you end up here? 🙂

ClZykRgWMAEtUUk — (Source: Lennart Ootes Twitter)

VG: I was seconding Anish for the Paris and Leuven legs of the Grand Chess Tour. (Editor: We did not probe Vidit more about his work with Anish due to the sensitivity of the topic.)

SK: You have been a key member of the Indian Chess team for quite some time now. The current team seems to be on a roll, with a historic Bronze at Olympiad 2014 and a memorable Gold at the recent Asian Nations Cup under its belt. What check-boxes are you guys ticking right?

VG: I think we, as a team, have developed a strong bond which helps us in team tournaments. We all, in the team, are good friends and get along very well. Also, our coach GM R B Ramesh always keeps us in good spirits.

The victorious Indian Team at the Asian Nations Cup 2016. (Source: www.chessdom.com) — The victorious Indian Chess Team at the Asian Nations Cup 2016. (Source: www.chessdom.com)

SK: Let’s backtrack. You hail from Nashik, a city not really known for producing titled players. How did your journey into the chess world begin and what challenges did you have to tackle?

VG: I started playing chess when I was about 7 years old. My dad taught me chess and whenever I lost to him, it angered me to learn more! There were a lot of challenges, but now it feels good that I got past them.

SK: You come across as a superbly prepared player. What is your approach to chess preparation?

VG: I feel I have improved my overall chess strength in the last few months. It is hard to exactly point out how I prepare, but recently I have been doing it in a more disciplined way.

SK: What, according to you, is the biggest achievement of your career so far?

VG: Winning two strong Category 16 tournaments. (Editor- Lake Sevan 2014 and Lake Sevan 2016)

Vidit had triumphed at the 2014 edition of Lake Sevan in convincing fashion. (Source: sevan.chessacademy.am)

SK: India is experiencing a ‘chess boom’ of sorts. However, what areas, in your opinion, need to be developed or improved upon?

VG: I think there have to be more opportunities. Few years ago, there used to be a lot of closed tournaments, which have completely stopped now. Closed tournaments really help in improving the game and I feel there is an urgent need for more such opportunities in India.

Blitzkrieg!

SK: Three things that you are generally found doing apart from Chess.

VG: Watch American TV shows, something related to technology, and as my friends say, I am with my phone.

SK: Your favourite cuisine.

VG: Italian

SK: If you could be an anime character for a day, who would you like to be?

VG: Tough question, I don’t like Anime anymore.

SK: If not a chess player, then …

VG: Something like a detective!

SK: The most influential movie quote you have ever come across.

VG: It’s from Rocky. “It ain’t about how hard you hit, but about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward!”

Anand: “I am sort of rediscovering Muhammad Ali a bit”

Starting with this post, we, at Follow Chess, will be kicking off our interview section, wherein we will bring across various interesting personalities from the chess world, be it the players, the organisers or other stalwarts from the chess fraternity. While the chess stuff will traditionally form the integral part, we will also be aiming to make the interviews as fun as possible. A set of offbeat questions, collectively named the ‘Blitzkrieg’, will deal with the non-chess aspects, with the idea of highlighting the lighter side of these well known personalities.

To kick start the series, we bring to you an interview with the man himself – Viswanathan Anand! Vishy, who recently won the Leon Tournament, was extremely kind and readily agreed for an interview!

Asim Pereira/Shubham Kumthekar: First of all, hearty congratulations on being awarded the honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur. How good does it feel?

Viswanathan Anand: It feels very good. It is a great honour (to be awarded the doctorate). I really enjoyed my trip to IIT Kanpur.

AP/SK: This comes on the back of a 4th place at Leuven and a victory at Leon. What do you make of your play in these events?

VA: I was happy with my play in Leon. With Leuven, I did not know what to expect. I generally tend to evaluate my performance based on my results against the Berlin and I wasn’t very optimistic.

During the Leuven tournament, I was doing very well. However, I ended up giving far too many chances. I could have secured a higher position. But again, I can’t really double guess as to what could have happened. Overall, yes, I would have liked to score more.

Thinking Away: The Madras Tiger finished 4th at Leuven, which featured ten of the strongest current players. (Courtesy: Lennart Ootes Twitter) — **Thinking Away**: The Madras Tiger finished 4th at Leuven, which featured ten of the strongest current players. (Courtesy: Lennart Ootes Twitter)

AP/SK: You have now won the Ciudad de Leon tournament a record nine times. What is it about Leon that brings the best out of you?

VA: I like Leon. It is a nice and short tournament – usually lasting about 4 days. I also like the town a lot and have plenty of friends there. All in all, it feels really good.

This victory at Leon was my first in 5 years. I’m happy to have overcome Wei Yi in the final round.

By beating Wei Yi 2.5-1.5 in the Finals, Anand racked up yet another victory at Leon. (Courtesy: www.advancedchessleon.com)

AP: How was your post-game interaction with Wei Yi?

VA: It was quite limited. We briefly discussed a couple of variations … but couldn’t quite hang out with him…

AP/SK: You always seem to bounce back after a crucial loss, be it the World Championship match against Topalov, or Gelfand or the second match against Magnus. What is your secret? How do you ensure being in the best frame of mind before every game?

VA: (Laughs) Well, you are being very kind! I don’t think it’s always.
I will like to agree with you more, but let’s say you try to put it behind, you get a good night’s sleep and you start the next game. I mean, sometimes you just have to go through the motions as well and hope that it pays off. I don’t really think there is much of a secret!

AP/SK: Which events will you be playing next?

VA: I am playing St. Louis and then London after that.

AP: And then perhaps the Candidates directly? 😛

VA: Well, I will have to qualify again, so that will have to take place sometime next year. I don’t have to deal with that right now, but next year I will have to figure out how to qualify.

AP/SK: Let’s move to the hot topic – Brexit. You have been in Europe for a very long time, so how do you see it? Does this come as a surprise to you? How will it impact the Chess scene in Europe?

VA: I don’t know if it will affect Chess more that it will anything else. But for me it’s remarkable. For me it’s bizarre what they have done to themselves. Winning side didn’t expect to win at all. So they did not bother planning anything. And the losing side did not really plan on losing, they tried to be confident. At least from the outside, it looks like complete shambles and I get the impression that they were completely on their own. But maybe, on the inside, they are confident and they are not letting on, I don’t know. Anyway, it doesn’t make a very good impression.

AP/SK: You have been associated with the Olympic Gold Quest for quite some time and Rio Olympics are just around the corner. What do you think about India’s chances?

VA: I hope we will get more medals this time. All the athletes have put in a lot of efforts and they are quite promising in many of the categories. But from my own experience, when you play you always go there hoping for the best and you really don’t know what’s going to happen. But hopefully enough of our guys will do well. Any improvement on the last time will be good news.

The Olympic Gold Quest family, of which Anand is a key member. (Courtesy: OGQ Twitter)

AP: Will you be cheering them in Brazil?

VA: I don’t think so. I will be in St. Louis at least for some part of it (checks his dates) .. Yes, I will be unable to attend.

AP/SK: Away from Chess, what do you enjoy doing ?

VA: Generally, I chill.. I play with Akhil.. I do some Astronomy…

AP: (interrupts) busy watching your planet through the telescope?

VA: Yeah, right now it’s a very good view. You get Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, quite a nice sky!

I am also fond of movies. I liked Bridge of Spies very much. I also watched Kung Fu Panda 3 with Akhil (laughs). It’s a good movie. Then there is Angry Birds as well, but I was in Belgium at the time of its release, so I will have to catch up!

Blitzkrieg!

AP/SK: Do you cook?

VA: I can’t do any serious cooking. I can make ready-made pasta and stuff like that. I can manage!

AP/SK: Tea or coffee?

VA: Coffee in the morning and tea during the rest of the day.

AP/SK: Early bird or night owl?

VA: Bit of both actually. At tournaments, my schedule is pretty much midnight to nine in the morning. But in India, I wake up by 6.30-7, whenever Akhil wakes up!

AP/SK: If you could be a fictional character for a day, who would you like to be?

VA: (thinking)

AP/SK: Kung Fu Panda?

VA: (laughs) I don’t know, lets say it’s Kung Fu Panda! Will be of some use for me!

AP/SK: Vishy, obviously you have a massive fan following. But whom are you a big fan of?

VA: Lot of people. Right now, I am sort of rediscovering Muhammad Ali a bit. He was very impressive. I knew he was great, but recently when he passed, I have been watching all the YouTube videos and enjoying.

There are also those people you read about, you admire. Honestly, too many to name.

Edmonton 04: Ganguly on fire!

Four rounds into the Edmonton International Tournament 2016, Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly is dominating the field, having scored a perfect 4/4 so far. The enterprising Grandmaster from India has recorded important wins over GMs Sethuraman and Sambuev, and is half a point ahead of second-placed GM Samuel Shankland.

The fourth round was a bitter-sweet one for the Indian fans. While Ganguly continued on his merry way by notching up a crucial victory over Sambuev, Sethuraman had a tough time against Shankland, eventually resigning on the 40th move. Meanwhile, Bitan Banerjee, the third Indian in the fray, successfully held on to a draw against top-seed GM Alexei Shirov. The latter is currently placed sole third with 3 points by his name.

Results and Standings

Leuven GCT Final Day: Carlsen takes it all!

After winning the Rapid section by staging a fantastic comeback, World Champion Magnus Carlsen continued his rich vein of form, winning the blitz event of the Leuven Grand Chess Tour 2016 in convincing style. As a result, Carlsen also emerged as the overall winner of the Leuven leg, thus taking home all the trophies that were up for grabs.

Magnus scored a total of 23 points in the Leuven leg, a whooping two and a half points more than the second placed Wesley So. The latter put on a solid performance – keeping his losses to minimum – and edged out Levon Aronian in the race for the second place. Levon Aronian finished sole third with 20 points.

Indian hope Vishy Anand, who led the table at the end of Day One, scored 19.5 points and had to contend himself with the fourth spot.

After two events of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, Magnus Carlsen is well and truly in command with a whooping 23 points. American Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So are placed joint second with 17 points each.

Capablanca Memorial Final: Ivanchuk all the way!

Another edition of the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament, and another title at this historic event for the ever-creative Vassily Ivanchuk. The 47-year-old Ukrainian super-GM remained unbeaten throughout the course of this double round-robin event, notching up an impressive 7/10 and finishing a point ahead of his compatriot GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko.

Ivanchuk’s performance was all about dominance. Chucky, as he is often called, took an early lead by winning games 2 and 3. From that point on, there was no looking back. Ivanchuk never let his top position slip, remained unbeaten and in the end, won the tournament in the most comprehensive of ways. Courtesy of this scintillating performance, Ivanchuk gained an impressive 18 ELO points.

While Kryvoruchko finished second with 6/10, GMs Zoltan Almasi and Ivan Cheparinov tied for the third place, scoring 5 points each. The latter’s superior tie-break score helped him finish third, while Almasi had to settle for the fourth spot.

Leuven GCT Day 2: Carlsen’s stupendous comeback!

While World Champion Magnus Carlsen had a terrible first day at the Leuven Leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, he once again justified his top billing by staging one of the better comebacks one will ever witness. Carlsen, who took off slowly with only four points on the first day out of a possible ten, won all the four games on the second day, not only taking his tally to 12/18 but also emerging as the leader at the end of the rapid section.

So Wesley, who is unbeaten as yet, finished a close second, scoring 11/18.

Meanwhile, Day One leader Vishy Anand had a rough finish to the rapid event. After having won the first game of the second day against the super-solid Anish Giri, Anand lost his way, losing two games on the trot to Kramnik and Carlsen. A draw in the final round of the rapid event saw the Madras Tiger finish joint third Levon Aronian.

The 10 players will now battle it out in a blitz tournament, which will be played over the course of the next two days. The winner will be adjudged taking into account the points scored from the rapid tournament as well as the blitz event.

Leon Masters: Anand beats Wei Yi, clinches title

The Leon Masters 2016 was held from 10th June to 12th June in Leon, Spain. This unique rapid event saw four players, of varied strengths, fight it out in a knockout format. Former World Champion Vishy Anand, who was also the chief attraction of this event, overcame the young opposition and won the tournament, adding yet another feather to his cap.

In the first round, which was labelled the ‘Semi Final’, Anand faced a tough challenge from young Spanish star GM Anton Guijjaro David. The first game was drawn. While Anand won the second game, Anton struck back immediately in the third. In the fourth and final game of the mini match, Anand recorded a crucial victory, thus making his way into the finals.

On the other hand, Chinese sensation GM Wei Yi was made to fight hard by Spanish IM Santos Latasa Jaime, despite a significant difference in their ratings. Wei Yi edged out Santos by the smallest of margins, winning one and drawing three.

The stage was set for an epic finale, featuring 46-year-old Anand and 17-year-old Wei Yi. Anand drew the first blood in the very first game of the match. However, the Chinese Grandmaster was unable to strike back and all the remaining three games were drawn. As such, Vishy clinched the final match by a 2.5-1.5 scoreline, winning yet another event in the city of Leon.

Mumbai Mayor’s Cup Final: Visakh NR outshines the Grandmasters!

The tenth and final round of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup 2016 saw the top board clash between GM Diptayan Ghosh and IM Visakh NR end peacefully. With this draw, the duo moved on to 8 points each, and were joined at the top by untitled Himal Gusain, who overcame IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni in the final round. However, Visakh’s superior tie-break score helped him edge out his competitors and go home richer by Rs.3 Lacs. The runners-up spot was clinched by Diptayan Ghosh whilst Himal Gusain finished third.

17-year-old Visakh, who hails from the state of Tamil Nadu, started off as a modest 19th seed. However, he put on an exceptional performance – winning six and drawing four, thus remaining unbeaten throughout the course of the event and finishing ahead of all the participating Grandmasters. The young lad recorded wins over such experienced GMs as Amonatov and Ulybin, while drawing against GMs Grachev, Diptayan and Swapnil Dhopade.

Final Standings

Women’s European Individual Final: Anna Ushenina is the new champion!

Drawing her final round game of the Women’s European Individiual Chess Championship 2016 against IM Lilit Mkrtchian, Former Women’s World Champion GM Anna Ushenina took her points tally to 8.5/11, eventually finishing first courtesy of her superior tie-break score. Anna, who commenced the event as the 9th seed, registered 6 wins and 5 draws, remaining unbeaten on her way to this coveted title.

The runners-up spot was clinched by Spanish IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina, who also scored 8.5 points whilst GM Stefanova Antoaneta secured the third place by scoring 8/11.

Final Standings

European Individual 08: Inarkiev shoots into sole lead

In-form Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev scored a crucial victory over top seed GM David Navara in the eighth round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2016. Playing the black side of a Nimzo-Indian Defence, Inarkiev efficiently refuted his opponent’s over-ambitious play on the King-side and went on to register a convincing 37-move victory. Courtesy of this result, Inarkiev is currently in sole lead with an impressive 7/8, half a point ahead of his nearest rivals.

Meanwhile, GMs Wojtaszek, Goganov and Kovalenko scored important wins over GMs Ter-Sahakyan, Bartel and Ivan Saric respectively to race their way to 6.5/8. This was Ivan Saric’s second consecutive defeat, after having grabbed the sole lead earlier with 5.5/6.

In the 9th round, tournament leader Inarkiev will be up against Kovalenko, who has notched up a creditable 4.5 points from his last 5 games to cover up for a slightly slow start.

Round 8 Results