Vidit Gujrathi of India won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess Tournament 2023 in Azerbaijan on Monday, defeating fellow countryman Arjun Erigaisi by 0.5 points. After 27 rounds of blitz and rapid games, Vidit finished the competition with 22 points, ahead of Erigaisi, who finished with 21.5 points.
In rapid time controls, Vidit went on to draw seven of his games, lose one, and win two. With 11 points from nine rounds, he finished second, behind Aydin Suleymanli of Azerbaijan. But Vidit would go on to put on a fantastic show, winning the title with a score of 7/9 in the blitz tournament’s second round.
“Ecstatic to win the Vugar Gashimov Memorial after making a comeback on the final day,” Vidit tweeted following his triumph.
Grandmaster Richard Rapport of Hungary came in third place with 19 points.
In addition to qualifying for the 2024 Candidates tournament, Vidit had just won the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament in the Isle of Man.