Anish Giri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anish Giri
Giri in 2025
Born	Anish Kumar Giri (1994-06-28) 28 June 1994 (age 31) Saint Petersburg, Russia
Spouse(s)	Sopiko Guramishvili ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	3
Chess career
Country	Russia (until 2009) Netherlands (since 2009)
Title	Grandmaster (2009)
FIDE rating	2764 (August 2025)
Peak rating	2798 (October 2015)
Peak ranking	No. 3 (January 2016)

Anish Kumar Giri (Nepali: अनीश कुमार गिरि; Russian: Аниш Кумар Гири) was born on June 28, 1994. He is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A true chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title in 2009. He was only 14 years, 7 months, and 2 days old at the time.

Anish Giri has won the Dutch chess championship five times (in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2023). He has also played for the Netherlands in seven Chess Olympiads. These big team tournaments happened in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, and 2024. As of July 2025, Giri is the top-ranked chess player in the Netherlands. He started playing for the Netherlands in 2009, after moving from Russia. He has also won important international tournaments. One of his biggest wins was the 2023 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He was the fourth Dutch player since 1968 to win this event.

Anish Giri's Early Life

Anish Giri was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 28, 1994. His mother, Olga, is Russian, and his father, Sanjay Giri, is Nepali. In 2002, when Anish was eight, his family moved to Sapporo, Japan. They lived there until 2008.

Since February 2008, Anish and his family have lived in Rijswijk, a town in the Netherlands. His father worked at a research foundation there. In June 2013, Anish finished high school at Grotius College in Delft. His grandmother on his father's side is Indian. Anish can speak English, Russian, Nepali, Dutch, and Hindi.

Anish Giri's Chess Journey

Anish Giri started playing chess with his mother when he was six years old. By age 11, he was already a strong player, rated above 2100. This rating is just below a master level. His first chess club was DYUSH-2 in Saint Petersburg. His first coaches were Asya Kovalyova and Andrei Praslov. When he lived in Japan, he was part of the Japan Chess Association. He also played for the Sapporo Chess Club. In 2004, he won the Sapporo Chess Championship.

Anish quickly became a very strong junior player. His rating went up a lot between 2006 and 2010. He worked with coach Vladimir Chuchelov from 2009 to 2012, and again starting in 2017. He also worked with Vladimir Tukmakov from 2013 to 2016.

Becoming a Grandmaster (2007–2009)

In 2007, Giri tied for first place in the Russian Higher League Under-14s Boys Championship. He also won the Saint Petersburg Boys Under 16s event. In 2008, he tied for first at the Blokadny Saint Petersburg Open. He then won the Petrograd Winter Open with a great score. He earned his first Grandmaster norm in April 2008 at the Intomart GfK Open. He got his second Grandmaster norm at Groningen.

His first big tournament was the Corus Chess Group C in January 2009. He tied for second place, which gave him his third GM norm. His Grandmaster title was officially confirmed in June 2009. That year, he also tied for second at the Dutch Open. He won the Dutch Championship and tied for second at the Unive tournament.

Anish Giri in 2008

Rising Star (2010–2013)

Because of his good performance in 2009, Giri played in the Corus Chess Group B in 2010. He won the tournament, finishing ahead of Arkadij Naiditsch. In May 2010, it was announced that Giri had helped Viswanathan Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2010. Anand won the championship.

In 2011, Giri played in the Tata Steel tournament for the first time. He famously beat Magnus Carlsen in just 22 moves. He also won the Dutch championship for the second time. In 2012, Giri won the Reggio Emilia chess tournament, even though he was the lowest-ranked player. He won his third Dutch championship that year. He continued to improve, finishing fourth at the Reykjavik Open in 2013.

Top Player Achievements (2014–2016)

In 2014, Giri tied for second place at the Tata Steel tournament. He also won a bronze medal for his performance at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. He finished second at the strong Qatar Masters Open. In February 2015, Giri's live rating briefly went above 2800. This is a very high rating in chess. He was one of the top players in the world.

In March 2016, Giri played in the Candidates Tournament 2016 in Moscow for the first time. This tournament decides who will challenge the World Champion. He drew all 14 of his games, meaning he was the only player who didn't lose a single game. His wife, Sopiko Guramishvili, and his coach, Vladimir Tukmakov, were with him. Since 2016, Giri has been sponsored by a company called Optiver.

Continued Success (2017–2019)

In 2017, Giri won the Reykjavik Open with a score of 8½ out of 10. He also won the European Club Cup with his team, Globus. In 2018, Giri tied for first place with Magnus Carlsen at the 80th Tata Steel Masters. Carlsen won the tie-break games. Giri also finished second at the 46th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting.

In January 2019, Giri finished second at the 81st Tata Steel Masters. In March 2019, he won the 3rd Shenzhen Masters tournament. In December 2019, Giri qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020. He earned his spot by having the highest average rating over 12 months.

Recent Years (2020–2025)

Giri played in the Candidates Tournament 2020, which was paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When it started again in April 2021, he finished tied for third place. In January 2021, Giri tied for first place at the 83rd Tata Steel Masters. He lost the tie-break game to Jorden van Foreest.

In 2021, Giri won the Magnus Carlsen Invitational 2021, an online tournament. He also won the MrDodgy Invitational blitz tournament for the second time in a row. In September 2021, Anish Giri won the Tolstoy Cup tournament in Russia.

In 2023, Anish Giri had a fantastic year. At the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023, he beat World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in a classical game for the first time in 12 years. He also defeated Ding Liren, who later became the World Champion. Giri went on to win the entire tournament. This win was very important for him. He also won his 5th Dutch championship title in 2023.

In January 2024, Anish Giri tied for first place at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024. However, he lost in the tie-breaker semifinals. In May 2025, Giri won the Sharjah Masters tournament. In April 2025, it was announced that Giri joined esports organization Team Secret. He will represent them in the Champions Chess Tour 2025.

Team Chess

Anish Giri has played for the Netherlands in seven Chess Olympiads. He has won three individual bronze medals. He has scored 35 points from 49 games, with 23 wins, 2 losses, and 24 draws.

Giri has also played in other team events. These include a World Team Championship and two European Team Championships. He won a team gold medal in the World Cities Championship.

Anish Giri has played for many different chess clubs. These include SK Turm Emsdetten in the Chess Bundesliga, HSG, Delftsche SchaakClub, HMC Calder, and En Passant. He has also played in the Spanish, French, and Russian leagues. He has won the European Club Cup with teams like Azeri SOCAR and Russian Siberia.

Anish Giri's Playing Style

Anish Giri's chess style is often called "solid and conservative." This means he is very hard to beat. However, it can sometimes mean he misses chances to win games. Even so, other grandmasters respect his skills. Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch once said that beating Magnus Carlsen is easier than beating Giri.

Famous Games by Anish Giri

Here are some of Anish Giri's most memorable games:

• Giri vs. Magnus Carlsen, Tata Steel (2011): Giri won this game in just 22 moves. Carlsen made a mistake and lost a piece. Giri later said that Carlsen probably wouldn't lose like that again for a long time.
• Giri vs. Ding Liren, Candidates, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2021): In this game, Giri sacrificed a bishop to win. This win helped him move into second place in the tournament at the time.
• Giri vs. Magnus Carlsen, Tata Steel, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands (2023): Giri got his first win against Carlsen in 12 years. He took advantage of mistakes Carlsen made. After this win, Giri was tied for first place in the tournament. He eventually won the tournament.

Anish Giri's Personal Life

Anish Giri speaks Russian, English, and Dutch very well. He also knows some Japanese, Nepali, and German. He is married to fellow chess player and international master Sopiko Guramishvili. They got married on July 18, 2015. They have two sons and a daughter.

Giri has written about many top chess games for the popular website ChessBase. He has also written articles for chess magazines like New in Chess and 64. He used to write for the magazine ChessVibes Training. Giri has also created three online chess courses. These courses teach about different chess openings.

In 2014, Giri published his first book, titled My Junior Years In 20 Games. Anish Giri also has a YouTube channel. As of May 2025, his channel has over 226,000 subscribers.

Images for kids

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  Giri in 2025

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  Anish Giri, 2008

See also

In Spanish: Anish Giri para niños