Vidit Gujrathi prioritises Prime Minister meet over title defence; Modi hails India's historic double gold triumph

Fresh from playing a role in India's first-ever title-winning campaign at the Chess Olympiad , Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi decided against defending his crown at the 10th Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess Super Tournament in Azerbaijan for an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Gujrathi had clinched the Azerbaijan event last year after beating Arjun Erigaisi. This year, his place has gone to Aravindh Chithambaram for the event that begins today (September 25) and goes on until September 30.

“I reached Baku and I got to know our Hon’ble PM wants to felicitate the Indian team. I was overjoyed when I heard this and I wanted to be a part of it. It’s amazing at how such short notice he is taking out time for us,” Gujrathi posted on social media platform X.

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I reached Baku and I got to know our Hon’ble PM wants to felicitate the Indian team. I was overjoyed when I heard this and I wanted to be a part of it. It’s amazing at how such short notice he is taking out time for us.

I contacted Sarkhan Gashimov (organiser) and he understood…

— Vidit Gujrathi (@viditchess) September 25, 2024

“I contacted Sarkhan Gashimov (organiser) and he understood my sentiments. Big thanks to him! Wishing Aravindh the best to play against top players in this prestigious event,” Gujrathi added.

Gujrathi and rest of the Indian chess contingents - men and women - met PM Modi in the national capital.

The Prime Minister lauded India’s youngsters for their historic achievement at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where both the men’s and women’s teams clinched their maiden gold medals.

India made history as the men’s team defeated Slovenia and the women’s team triumphed over Azerbaijan in the last round, securing their first-ever gold medals at the prestigious event.

In the men’s competition, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa secured decisive wins in the 11th and final round.

The women’s team secured their gold by defeating Azerbaijan.

Visuals from PM Modi's meeting with 🇮🇳 India's golden 🥇 chess ♟️ contingent at his residence in Delhi pic.twitter.com/xZhTsZbVnB

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 25, 2024

In a video shared on social media, Modi interacted with the chess champions, including R Vaishali, D Harika, Tania Sachdev, Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa.

D Gukesh, the star of the tournament, won 10 out of 11 games in the Open category, playing a key role in India’s victory.

During the interaction, the players presented the Prime Minister with a chessboard, after which Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi played a quick game of chess, which left Modi spellbound.

Our proud Indian #Chess♟️ teams head to meet our honourable Prime - minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji post their stupendous Gold medal🥇 victory at #ChessOlympiad2024

Super proud of you champs!👏🏻

Keep the 🇮🇳 flying high on the global 🌎stage#IndianChess pic.twitter.com/SI4ZwbQBx6

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 25, 2024

Earlier, the Sports Ministry shared a video of the Indian chess contingent leaving their hotel and heading to meet the Prime Minister.

#SAIExclusive: Selfie Time🤳☑️ 📸

Our #ChessOlympiad #Gold medalists🥇 and the "random #Chess♟️ player" 😉

Take a look👇🏻#IndianChess #FIDE #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/iJwp8QuM58

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 25, 2024

The Indian men’s team finished with an impressive 21 out of 22 possible points in Budapest, conceding only one draw (2-2) against Uzbekistan while defeating the rest of their opponents.