Too many matches as India’s No.5 chess player Gujrathi eases schedule

At a tournament in Russia, Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi recalled, he had lost a match despite being in a winning position.

- Shahid Judge

Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi during the FIDE World Cup in Goa.

In anger, he slammed the door of his hotel room so hard that a tile broke off the wall.Gujrathi, India’s 30th grandmaster, is only 31. But that memory seems like a lifetime ago. Once a young talent, the India No.5 is now taking measured steps away from professional chess.

“I don't consider myself an active player anymore,” Gujrathi said.

The world No.29 is in Mumbai, competing for the Triveni Continental Kings in the Global Chess League. While the rest of the field, as soon as the tournament ends, will fly to Doha for the World Rapid Chess Championship, Gujrathi will skip the grand event.

“It was a conscious decision towards the end of last year, I decided to reduce playing,” he said. “I did not play all the serious events this year. Before some tournaments like the Grand Swiss, where I had confirmed participation, I was even thinking till the last minute if 1 should play or not. I did not feel like playing.”