Vidit Gujrathi took to X (formerly Twitter) to appreciate the efforts made by Uzbekistan’s government in recognizing the winners of the Chess Olympiad 2026. The Indian chess player was part of the team that was placed second in the Open Section.
Meanwhile, the Indian Women’s team had won the bronze medal in the recently concluded tournament. The positive results came after both the Men’s team and Women’s team had won the gold medal in the previous edition.
Vidit’s post made it feel like he was shocked to see the reception of the team. The Uzbek government announced a cash reward 200 thousand US dollars, a car, and even a property. His post also appeared to be a dig at the Indian government, with the prizes for their gold medals in the previous edition being inferior to what the Uzbek government announced.
Did Vidit Gujrathi Take a Dig at the Indian Government?
Vidit Gujrathi did not seem to have taken any indirect dig at the Indian government. However, the post made by the Indian chess player certainly raised questions. While reposting a tweet that had the details of prize money, Vidit said, “Wow! 200K USD + Home + Car. What a way to celebrate champions. Really commendable stuff.”
Earlier, in 2024, when the Indian team had won the Chess Olympiad, each player from the Open and Women’s events was awarded a cash prize of ₹25 lakh (26,070 USD, as per recent exchange rates) by the All India Chess Federation (AICF). Apart from this, each player was also awarded ₹20 lakh (20,854 USD) by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The combined cash award given by AICF and SAI equalled around 45,000 USD, which is less than 25% of what the Uzbekistan government awarded its players, along with a car and a property.
Vidit Gujrathi Announces Retirement From Chess Olympiad?
In a separate video, Vidit Gujrathi was seen contemplating his future at the Chess Olympiad following India’s silver medal finish in the Open Section. The 31-year-old, while appearing in a video on the Chessbase India channel, is seen talking about the recently concluded Olympiad being his last one. However, he did not make a concrete announcement, keeping his options open with the Olympiad taking place every two years.
He also recalled his stellar record in the Olympiad, where Gujrathi has not lost a single game since 2018 and has lost only two games in his entire career in the Olympiad. The Indian Grand Master noted that he is counting only the physical Olympiads and not the ones that took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.