Vidit Gujrathi became the Under-14 World Youth Champion in 2008. Not only did he become the first Indian to win the U14 title but also earned the International Master tag through the tournament. (More Sports News)
Till that point in Gujrathi's career, the graph was just moving upwards. However, the downs would soon follow. His talent ensured he would do well, but something stopped him from being consistent. He had to wait a longer to become a Grand Master, a tag he eventually earned in 2013. But the journey remained a bit up and down for the 29-year-old.
This was the time he decided to shake up things and shake them up so hard that according to him 'the Vidit Gujrathi of a few years back would be unrecognisable now.'
Gujrathi alongside his Open team partners and women's team were recently felicitated by the All India Chess Federation in New Delhi after their historic Chess Olympiad victories in Hungary.
Talking to OutlookIndia on the sidelines of the event, Gujrathi opened up about his career and how he overcame that slump.
"I think it has always been an up-and-down journey for me. I was doing very well in the age group tournaments. I won four or five national championships. We had four Asian silver medals. I had become world champion under fourteen, but then I hit a slump and I was not becoming Grand Master for some time," he said.
"But then I overcame (the slump). It was like how to get into the world's top 100, top 20," the Nashik resident added. "What I've realised is that you have to constantly evolve, not only as a player but as a person, because who you are as a person reflects on the game. So now, in the last two years, I've made so many changes in myself that if you spoke to me earlier, I would be a different person."
Talking in detail about the changes he made to his game, Gujrathi said: "So earlier, I was not taking so much risk. I used to like to keep things under control, and that can only get you so far, and now it's like sometimes you have to jump without a parachute, hoping that you will land safely.
"You know you will not always have the harness. You have to take that deep dive and you will be rewarded. Sometimes you will not be but unless you try, you will not know."
He also underlined how becoming mentally tough helped him move on from defeats.
"I had to let loose of my mental inhibitions. Also, I had to become very mentally tough, because losses used to affect me a lot, and then I would not be able to come back," he said.
"But the biggest tournament which I won last year, was after losing the first game, and that made my way to Candidates," he added talking about his triumph at the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss tournament. "So these little things, you know, all added up".
Vidit Gujrathi also admitted that he received a lot of guidance. "I couldn't have done this by myself. It was coaches and my guru, who were guiding me throughout this journey."
Today, Gujrathi is an Olympiad champion and consistency in his game has been there for some time now. He had led the Indian team in the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad where they shared the gold medal. At the Candidates earlier this year, he had defeated Hikaru Nakamura twice. The downs are all behind him and he is striving to do better.
However, none of it came easy for him. A man of many interests, Gujrathi is also a social media star. He has more than 2.6 lakh subscribers on YouTube with even more followers on Instagram. These interests used to come in the way of Gujrathi taking his chess game to the next level.
"So, the thing is, for me, I have too many interests. Sometimes that holds me back. You know, from practising and training. I love to do many other things.
"One thing was that I had to focus completely on just my training aspect. I had to let go of other things. I was streaming as well. I was doing a lot of content creation. I just put that aside. I just wanted to focus, give it all and have no regrets after it.
"Then I had to make small tweaks. And when I started to get results, it was not immediate. It was after one and a half years or so. I had to keep persevering, because I was not getting results. But at least I knew that (I was) trying everything (that was) in my control. So that was the peace that that made me sleep well in the night."
He constantly appears on YouTube live streams with famous comedians. Talking about this, Gujrathi said that nothing was planned and it just happened.
"When I found out that the comedians are playing chess, we started to hang out. We were having so much fun, and it brought in a new audience to the game. I started without a plan, and it got so much attention that I cannot complain. But yeah, sometimes I have to keep my passions in control because it distracts me from the training."
Saying that he will cherish the Olympiad win forever, Vidit Gujrathi revealed his favourite results from the tournament.
"I have very good memories for myself from the tournament," he said. "Against Hungary, it looked like it was going to be a draw on all three boards and there I felt the pressure that ok this game is going to decide. So, that win was very special to me when I won against Hungary. Also, drawing against (Levon) Aronian in the USA match which decided the championship."
When asked about any challenges that he faced during the tournament, he said: "I mean, after we win, everything feels good, so I cannot complain about that."
With the Olympiad gold around his neck, Gujrathi remains hungry for more. "I think it's a continuous process. My ambitions don't stop here. I want to reach even higher," he said.
