Courtesy-Scroll.in
Grandmaster (GM) Vidit Gujrathi will be preparing for his fourth chess World Cup in Russia’s gorgeous resort town of Sochi in less than a month. The 26-year-old is no stranger to the intensity and competition of a World Cup, having competed in 2015, 2017, and 2019. While his preparation for the event, which will take place from July 10 to August 6, will be similar to past tournaments, the Indore-born GM believes he will have a greater challenge this time. It has nothing to do with the chess board, but rather with the uncertainty of travelling during COVID-19.
Vidit has not travelled abroad or competed in an over-the-board event since February 2020, when he competed in Prague, and he is nervous about the thought of travelling and maybe being quarantined for a few days.
“I’ll find out in due course if there are any difficulties with playing across the board after such a long period. I believe that the biggest challenge will not be the game itself. The primary problem will be travel, quarantine, and the COVID problem. That is a really tough situation. I haven’t travelled outside of the country since the pandemic’s inception. So it might be the most serious problem,” Vidit explained.
Vidit’s attention will change to putting on a strong show once the worry of flying is removed. Despite losing in the third round of the last two World Cups — against finalist Ding Liren in 2017 and semi-finalist Wesley So in 2019 — Vidit feels his progress over the last several years will help him go farther in the event.
Along with Vidit, the other Indian men who have qualified for the event are P Harikrishna, Aravindh Chithambaram, P Iniyan, and B Adhiban. Among these competitors, Vidit believes Harikrishna will make it to the finals. “Among those going for the World Cup, Harikrishna is the top Indian player as far as rating goes. He has a good chance of doing well in the tournament,” Vidit said.