Nikita Vitiugov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nikita Vitiugov |
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Vitiugov at Superfinal of the Russian Chess Championship 2018
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| Full name | Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov |
| Country | Russia (until May 2022) FIDE (May 2022 to August 2023) England (since August 2023) |
| Born | 4 February 1987 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (2007) |
| FIDE rating | 2722 (July 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2751 (November 2019) |
| Peak ranking | No. 15 (May 2011) |
Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov (Russian: Никита Кириллович Витюгов) was born on February 4, 1987. He is a very skilled chess grandmaster. A grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can achieve, besides being the World Champion.
Nikita used to represent Russia in chess. But since 2023, he has been playing for England. He made this change because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Nikita was part of the Russian team that won the World Team Chess Championship in 2009 and 2013. He also won the Gibraltar Masters tournament in 2013 and the Grenke Open in 2017. In 2021, he won the Russian Chess Championship.
Contents
Nikita's Chess Journey
Early Achievements
Nikita Vitiugov showed his talent in chess from a young age. In 2005, he became the Russian champion for players under 18. That same year, he was also the runner-up at the European Youth Chess Championship for under 18s. He continued to do well, finishing second in the Russian Junior Championship in both 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he also came in second place at the World Junior Chess Championship.
Becoming a Grandmaster
In July 2006, Nikita won a special chess tournament called "Blue Sevan" in Armenia. This win helped him get the final "norm" he needed to become a Grandmaster. A "norm" is a high-level performance in a chess tournament that helps a player earn a title like Grandmaster. Later that year, he played in the top Russian Championship, called the Superfinal, for the first time.
In 2007, he played in the European Individual Chess Championship. This helped him qualify for the Chess World Cup 2007. In the World Cup, he was knocked out in the first round. But in September 2007, he won the Russian Championship Higher League. This meant he qualified for the Superfinal again, where he finished tied for 4th to 6th place.
Winning Tournaments
In 2008, Nikita won two important tournaments. He won the Baltic Sea Cup in Denmark. He also won the Cup of Russia, beating another strong player, Boris Savchenko, in the final game.
In November 2009, Nikita played in the Chess World Cup 2009. He did very well, winning against three players before losing to Sergey Karjakin in the fourth round. The next month, he finished third in the 62nd Russian Championship Superfinal. Because of his great results in 2009, his Elo rating went above 2700 for the first time. An Elo rating is a system used to calculate the skill levels of chess players.
In April 2010, he played in the 11th Anatoly Karpov Tournament and finished tied for third. In March 2011, he tied for first place at the Aeroflot Open tournament. Later that year, he played in the Chess World Cup 2011. He won his first two matches but then lost in the third round.
In January 2013, Nikita won the Masters tournament at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. He beat the previous champion, Nigel Short, in a fast playoff game. He and three other players all finished the tournament with a score of 8 out of 10 points. In the 2013 Alekhine Memorial tournament, he finished fifth. At the Chess World Cup 2013, he won his first two matches but was then eliminated in the third round. In October of the same year, he finished third in the Russian Championship Superfinal.
Nikita also helped another chess player, Peter Svidler, as his "second" in the Candidates Tournaments of 2013 and 2014. A "second" is like a coach or assistant who helps a chess player prepare for matches.
In January 2014, he tied for first place at the Gibraltar Masters again. After a playoff, he finished second. In 2015, he tied for third place at the same event. In August 2015, he finished third in the Russian Championship Superfinal. He also played in the Chess World Cup 2015, where he was knocked out in the second round.
In 2016, Nikita tied for first place in the Grenke Chess Open in Germany. He won this tournament the next year after a tiebreak. In December 2017, he tied for first with Peter Svidler in the Russian Superfinal but lost in a playoff.
In 2018, Nikita played in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic and finished fourth. In 2019, he won the Masters tournament at the Prague Chess Festival with the same score.
In 2022, Nikita played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022, which is a series of tournaments for top chess players. He had good results in the second and third parts of the event.
Playing for Teams
Nikita Vitiugov has also been a key player in team chess competitions. In August 2009, he played for the Russian national team for the first time. He helped the Russian team win the gold medal at the World Team Chess Championship in 2009. He played very well, scoring 5.5 out of 6 points, which also earned him an individual gold medal.
In 2010, he played for Russia's second team at the 39th Chess Olympiad. In July 2011, he won another individual gold medal at the 8th World Team Championship. At the World Team Championship in 2013, Nikita won a team gold medal and an individual bronze medal. In 2017, he won a team silver medal at the same event. The next year, he played for Russia in the 43rd Chess Olympiad and helped the team win a bronze medal.
Nikita also plays for the Saint Petersburg Chess Federation team in the Russian Team Championship and the European Chess Club Cup. He helped his team win gold at the European Club Cup in 2011. He also won an individual gold medal for his performance. In November 2012, his team won silver at the European Club Cup, and he won an individual bronze medal. In 2013, his team won gold in the Russian Team Championship, and he won an individual bronze. His team, later called Mednyi Vsadnik, won the gold medal again in the European Club Cup in 2018, where Nikita also won an individual gold.
See also
In Spanish: Nikita Vitiugov para niños
