Vidit Gujrathi: Decline of Form – A Critical Analysis on Recent Performances of Chess

As of late, Vidit Gujrathi, considered by many as a chess talent with much potential in the Indian chess scene, has seen a significant decline in his recent performances. The underwhelming results not only in Chennai Chess Grandmasters 2024 but also in the Chess Champions League set the ground for numerous discussions on the possible reasons in the game.

Lack of form in Chennai Grandmasters 2024

Vidit suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of Arjun Erigaisi who is today India’s top player, in the opening round of the strongest Chennai Grandmasters.

The game was highly contested but had Vidit in very strong position but one miscalculated move, King to e5, and he lost with some pretty accurate play by Arjun.

Vidit’s loss to Arjun was not just an upset in a single game; it marks the problems he has faced against top-class players recently. On the whole, the tournament ended in absolute last position for Vidit, a far cry from his performances of a couple of years ago when he would regularly contend with the world’s elite.

Perhaps Vidit’s troubles also accompanied him into Chess Champions League, as he failed to live up to his expectations.

The opposition being such a mix from international players, still, Vidit could not be consistent and made those blunders which normally he would never do. His downfalls trigger many speculations among spectators about his recent form, mental preparation, and competitive edge over the rest of the international competition.

Possible Reasons Behind Vidit’s Failure

Vidit’s latest games tend to raise questions about a few factors affecting his game:

Severe Competition: New young Indian players – Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi especially- put immense pressure at the national level to stay ahead of Vidit.

Mental Stress: Chess is not only physically trying but also mentally challenging. Vidit’s recent troubles may be giving due indication that the pressures of playing high-stakes matches are impacting his confidence and decision-making acumen.

More Mistakes: The errors by him in the crucial moments, like the one against Arjun Erigaisi, have proved that he seems to lack the mental toughness while playing under pressure. The mistakes cost extremely dear, particularly while competing against opponents who seize the opportunity.

Play Ahead

Perhaps the boy needs to go back to the drawing board, so far as preparation strategies are concerned, and work more on his mental toughness. Vidit perhaps needs to emulate the kind of strategies of players like Magnus Carlsen, who have stayed long at the top and maintained that form. Besides that, he could improve on correcting those recurring mistakes and looking at much-improved endgames tactics that would give him a competitive edge.

Vidit Gujrathi is definitely a very strong player and it will take some time for him to recover, but the way ahead definitely requires introspection and remedial action. It is, however time-bound, but definitely the chess fraternity would eagerly await his next steps.