Chess Pro League: India #2 GM Vidit Gujrati hands Magsun Carlsen first league defeat

Indian chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, representing the Indian Yogis, registered the biggest win of his career by beating five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen—playing for Canada ChessBrahs—in a Pro Chess League encounter on Tuesday. 

The 28-year-old managed to achieve this feat by playing with black pieces as he capitalised on a blunder made by Carlsen. The world No. 1 missed a checkmate in three, which was taken advantage of by Gujrathi in the dying stages of the encounter. 

The Pro Chess League is an online tournament for teams from all over the world. The event features 16 teams playing rapid games and has a US$150,000 prize pool. 

On Tuesday night, the Indian Yogis team fielded GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Raunak Sadhwani, IM Aronyak Ghosh and IM R Vaishali against a star-studded Canada ChessBrahs team led by Carlsen. 

Heading into the final round, the Yogis were trailing by a single point (5.5-6.5), with the game format requiring the first team to score 8.5 points to win the contest. The Indian quartet turned the tables by winning on all four boards, registering a 9.5-6.5 victory on the night. 

Speaking about the huge victory, Gujrathi said: 

“It is an amazing feeling to beat the GOAT of Chess and I couldn’t have asked for a better moment. 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 but couldn’t capitalise on it. Glad that I’ve finally done it. Credit to all the players, team and our coach R.B Ramesh. After yesterday’s amazing performance, everybody’s mood in the camp is very high and hopefully we make it big this time.”