Anish Giri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anish Giri
Giri in 2024
Born	Anish Kumar Giri (1994-06-28) 28 June 1994 (age 30) 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 (June 2025)
Peak rating	2798 (October 2015)
Peak ranking	No. 3 (January 2016)

Anish Kumar Giri (Nepali: अनीश कुमार गिरि; Russian: Аниш Кумар Гири; born 28 June 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became a grandmaster in 2009 when he was just 14 years old.

Giri has won the Dutch chess championship five times (in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2023). He also won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has played for the Netherlands in seven Chess Olympiads, which are big international team chess events.

He has won many important international tournaments. These include the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament, the 2017 Reykjavik Open, and the 2023 Tata Steel Chess tournament. In 2015, he shared first place at the London Chess Classic. In 2019, he won the Shenzhen Masters.

As of November 2024, Anish Giri is the top-ranked chess player in the Netherlands. He used to play for Russia but switched to the Netherlands in 2009. In the 2021 Tata Steel Chess tournament, he tied for first place but lost in a tie-break game. In 2023, he won the Tata Steel Chess tournament by beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov on the final day. He was the fourth Dutch player since 1968 to win this famous event.

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. His grandmother on his father's side is from India.

In 2002, when Anish was eight, his family moved to Sapporo, Japan. They lived there until 2008. Since February 2008, Giri and his family have lived in Rijswijk, a town in the Netherlands. In 2013, Giri finished high school at Grotius College in Delft.

Chess Career

Giri started playing chess with his mother when he was six years old. By the time he was 11, he was already a very strong player. His first chess club was in Saint Petersburg. He was also a member of the Japan Chess Association while living in Japan. In 2004, he won the Sapporo Chess Championship.

Anish improved very quickly as a young player. His chess rating went up a lot between 2006 and 2010. He worked with famous chess coaches like Vladimir Chuchelov and Vladimir Tukmakov.

Becoming a Grandmaster

In 2007, Giri shared first place in the Russian Under-14s Boys Championship. He also won the Saint Petersburg Boys Under-16s event. In 2008, he won the Petrograd Winter Open. He earned his first Grandmaster norm in April 2008. A "norm" is a high-level performance needed to become a Grandmaster. He earned his second norm later that year.

Anish Giri, 2008

Giri got his third and final Grandmaster norm in January 2009 at the Corus Chess Group C tournament. This meant he officially became a Grandmaster in June 2009. That same year, he won the Dutch Championship for the first time.

Top Tournaments and Achievements

In 2010, Giri won the Corus Chess Group B tournament. This was a big step for him. Later that year, it was revealed that Giri had helped Viswanathan Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship. Anand won the championship!

In 2011, Giri played in the top 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 tournament, even though he was the lowest-ranked player. He also won his third Dutch Championship.

In 2014, Giri finished second at the Tata Steel tournament. He also won a bronze medal for his individual performance at the Chess Olympiad in Norway. In 2015, his live rating briefly went above 2800, which is a very high achievement in chess.

Candidates Tournament and Sponsorship

In 2016, Giri played in the Candidates Tournament 2016 for the first time. This tournament decides who will challenge the World Champion. He drew all 14 of his games, meaning he didn't lose any! Since 2016, Giri has been sponsored by a company called Optiver.

In 2017, Giri won the Reykjavik Open tournament. He also helped his team, Globus, win the European Club Cup.

In 2018, Giri tied for first place with Magnus Carlsen at the Tata Steel Masters tournament. However, Carlsen won the tie-break games.

In 2019, Giri finished second at the Tata Steel Masters again. He then won the Shenzhen Masters tournament. He also qualified for the 2020 Candidates Tournament based on his high rating throughout 2019.

Recent Years (2020-2024)

The 2020 Candidates Tournament was stopped halfway because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When it started again in 2021, Giri finished in a shared third place.

In 2021, Giri tied for first place at the Tata Steel Masters. He lost in a tie-break game to Jorden van Foreest. However, he later won the 2021 Magnus Carlsen Invitational, which was an online tournament. He also won the MrDodgy Invitational for the second time in a row.

In 2023, Giri had a great year. He beat Magnus Carlsen in a classical chess game for the first time in 12 years at the Tata Steel Chess tournament. He also beat Ding Liren, who later became the World Champion. Giri went on to win the entire Tata Steel event! He also won his fifth Dutch Championship title that year.

In 2024, Anish Giri again finished tied for first place at the Tata Steel tournament. He lost in the tie-breaker semifinals to Gukesh D.

Team Chess

Anish Giri has played for the Netherlands in six Chess Olympiads. He has won three individual bronze medals for his strong play.

Giri has also played for many chess clubs in different leagues around the world. He has won the European Club Cup with teams from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Playing Style

Anish Giri's chess style is often described as "solid" and "conservative." This means he is very hard to beat. However, sometimes this style can make it harder for him to turn a small advantage into a win. Other grandmasters have said that it's very difficult to beat Giri.

Notable Games

• Giri vs. Magnus Carlsen, Tata Steel (2011): Giri beat Magnus Carlsen, who later became World Champion, in just 22 moves. Carlsen made a big mistake in this game.
• Giri vs. Ding Liren, Candidates (2021): Giri made a bold move by sacrificing a bishop to win this game. This win helped him move up in the tournament standings.
• Giri vs. Magnus Carlsen, Tata Steel (2023): Giri won against Carlsen again after 12 years. Carlsen made some errors, and Giri took advantage of them to win the game. This victory helped Giri win the entire tournament.

Personal Life

Anish Giri can speak several languages. He is fluent in Russian, English, and Dutch. He also knows some Japanese, Nepali, and German.

He is married to another chess player, Sopiko Guramishvili, who is an international master. They got married in 2015 and have three children.

Giri has written about chess for popular chess websites and magazines. He has also created online chess courses to teach others about different chess openings.

In 2014, Giri published his first book, called My Junior Years In 20 Games. He also has a YouTube channel where he shares chess content. It has over 226,000 subscribers as of January 2025.

See Also

In Spanish: Anish Giri para niños