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What's the story?
India has been lapping up to success in a wide range of sports this year around. Budding chess player Vidit Gujrathi went that extra mile to do the country proud and win his second title of 2018 as he went on to be the joint winner of the Seigman chess tournament in Malmo, Sweden along with Chess Grand Master Nils Grandelius.
In case you didn't know...
The very young and talented 23-year-old Gujrathi had earlier become the only third Indian after P Harikrishna and B Adhiban to emerge as a winner in the Challengers section in the Tata Steel Chess tournament.
However, Gujarathi had come into the Malmo event after a fairly poor show in the preceding Aerofloat Open.
The heart of the matter
Vidit, who tasted major success for the first time at just 18 years of age, when he became Grand Master in 2013, has gone on to win many more laurels for himself.
The 23-year-old Indian beat highly rated Russian Alexander Morozevich and another Swede, Linus Johansson to finally share the Seigman title with Grandmaster Grandelius. The talented youngster picked up 3.5 points in five rounds and gathered 2.8 rating points. The win, which was secured with a rating of 2707, also escalated him to World No. 33.
What's next?
In winning the Sweden title, Gujrathi has become the World No. 33 and has reserved a spot for himself at the Masters next year.
Not only that, he added his name beside the likes of Viswanathan Anand, K Sasikiran and Harikrishna as he became the fourth Indian to go past the 2700-mark. Gujrathi currently has 2709.8 live rating points.
Author's take
India has had stalwarts in chess. In fact, chess in India goes back ages. To see youngsters like Vidit honing their skills and excelling on the international platform this way and continuing with the legacy is a matter of great pride.
For the nation, it is indeed a moment of joy and for Vidit, it must be extremely overwhelming to become the 4th Indian to go past the 2700-score. Here's wishing the spirited young chess player all the best for his bright career ahead!
