Nikita Vitiugov - FIDE Chess Grandmaster

Nikita Vitiugov is a Chess Grandmaster with over a 2500 Elo rating from FIDE.

Last Updated: August 4, 2022

Rewrote the entire article, adding over 1000 words to provide more details about Vitiugov.

Full Name: Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov

Title: Grandmaster – GM (2007)

International Master – IM (2006)

Place of birth: Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

Born: February 4, 1987

Federation: FIDE

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Ratings

World ranking: 24

Rapid: 2580

Blitz: 2673

Classical: 2722

Profiles

Biography

Nikita Vitiugov was born on February 4th, 1986 in St. Petersburg, and in 2006 he earned the title of Grandmaster. In that same year, Vitiugov finished 2nd in the World Youth Tournament in Herceg Novi, and in 2010, VItiugov was a part of the gold-medalist Russian squad in the World Team Tournament in Bursa, clinching solo gold for the 2nd reserve with a score of 5.5 points out of 6 and a top peak rating of 2940. In addition, Vitiugov earned a solo gold medal while competing for the second team in the 2011 World Team Tournament achieving 4 points out of 6 and a Top Peak Rating of 2729. Vitiugov has a FIDE rating of 2722 as of July 2022 and a Peak rating of 2751 as of November 2019.

The Beginning

Nikita Vitiugov’s chess career began on a high note as he clinched the 2005 U18 Russian tournament and finished second in the U18 European tournament that same year. Across both 2006 & 2007, Vitiugov finished 2nd in the Russian Junior Tournament and came in second place at the 2006 World Junior Chess Championship. In 2006, Vitiugov achieved the Blue Sevan round-robin championship in Sevan, Armenia, to earn the final Grandmaster norm. he competed in his initial Russian Tournament Superfinal, placing eleventh in December of that year.

Vitiugov earned the opportunity to compete at the 2007 FIDE World Cup after advancing through the European Individual Chess Tournament in 2007 but was eliminated in the initial round by Konstantin Sakaev. Vitiugov triumphed in the Russian Tournament Higher League in September 2007 and advanced to the Superfinal where he shared fourth to sixth place. Vitiugov triumphed in the 2008 Baltic Sea Cup in Bornholm, Denmark, defeating Boris Savchenko on a deciding set score line, and in the Cup of Russia, beating Savchenko in the finale.

Additionally, Vitiugov competed in the 2009 FIDE World Cup and defeated Abhijeet Gupta, Gilberto Milos, and Konstantin Sakaev before falling to Sergey Karjakin in the 4th match. Vitiugov came in 3rd in the 62nd Russian Tournament grand final later that month. In the FIDE rating list, in March 2020 Vitiugov reached the 2700 Elo rating threshold for the initial time courtesy of his achievements in the grand final in 2009 and the World Team Tournament in 2009 In 2010, Vitiugov finished equal 3rd, 4th on deciding set at the eleventh Anatoly Karpov Championship in Poikovsky.

In the 2011 Aeroflot Open in March, Vitiugov shared first to third place with Evgeny Tomashevsky and Lê Quang Liêm, finishing 2nd in a deciding set. Shortly afterward in that same year, Vitiugov participated in the World Cup, where he defeated Alexei Bezgodov in the opening round and Anton Korobov in the 2nd round until he lost to Vladimir Potkin in the 3rd round.in 2011, VItiugov competed in the 54th Reggio Emilia event after December, accumulating 2 victories, 2 ties, and 6 defeats. In the 2012 Russian Championship Higher League in June, Vitiugov shared the top spot with Dmitry Andreikin and Daniil Dubov, ending 3rd on a tiebreak.

Vitiugov went on to win the 2013 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival Masters event in January defeating title holder Nigel Short in the quick semifinals. Vitiugov and three other competitors concluded the competition with a score of 8 points out of 10. Vitiugov placed sixth at the Alekhine Memorial in 2013, which took place between 20th April and 1st May, with 412 points from nine games -one victory, one defeat, and seven draws. At the 2013 World Cup, Vitiugov beat Conrad Holt and Markus Ragger in the first and second rounds, correspondingly, before being ousted in the 3rd round by Alexander Morozevich. Vitiugov came 3rd in the Russian Tournament grand final in October that year as well.

Vitiugov was Peter Svidler’s partner in the 2013 and 2014 Candidates championships. In the Gilbraltar Masters in 2014, Vitiugov shared the top spot with Vassily Ivanchuk and Ivan Cheparinov. Upon defeating the latter in the semifinals, Vitiugov fell to the former and came in 2nd. Vitiugov shared 3rd spot in the edition of 2015, coming 4th on tiebreak. Vitiugov finished 3rd in the 2015 Russian Tournament Superfinal held in August. Having beaten Samvel Ter-Sahakyan in the opening round, the next month, Vitiugov participated in the FIDE World Cup, after which he was eliminated in the 2nd round by Le Quang Liem. In 2016, Vitiugov shared first place in the Grenke Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany, with Matthias Blübaum, Vladimir Fedoseev, and others.

Furthermore, in 2016, Vitiugov finished 3rd on deciding set at the Grenke Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany, alongside Matthias Blübaum, Vladimir Fedoseev, Milo Perunovi, Ni Hua, and Francisco Vallejo Pons. Within a year, Vitiugov triumphed in a deciding set against Maxim Matlakov, Étienne Bacrot, and Zdenko Koul. In 2017 at the Russian Superfinal in December, Vitiugov shared first place with Peter Svidler, with 7 points of the possible 11 points. Vitiugov was eliminated from the playoffs.

Squad events

In 2009, Vitiugov earned his Russian men’s squad breakthrough in August, participating in the sixth China-Russia Encounter, which was staged using the Scheveningen format. Vitiugov was a member of the Russian squad that claimed gold in the 2009 World Team Chess Tournament in Bursa, achieving 5.5 points out of 6 points. His rating of 2939, the 2nd best in the tournament, earned him a solitary gold medal as well. Vitiugov scored 6 points out of 9 for Russia’s reserve squad on the 3rd board at the 39th Chess Olympiad.

In 2011 Vitiugov competed in the eighth World Team Tournament held in Ningbo, achieving 4 points out of 6 on board five to win a solo gold medal. Vitiugov secured the squad gold medal at the World Team Championships in Antalya in 2013 and a bronze medal for himself while participating on the second board. Vitiugov earned the squad silver medal in the 2017 tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk. The subsequent year, Vitiugov represented Russia in the 43rd Chess Olympiad, helping the team be crowned bronze medalists.

Vitiugov competes in the Russian Squad Tournament and the European Chess Club Cup for the Saint Petersburg Chess Association. Vitiugov contributed to his team’s gold medal at the 2011 European Club Cup, achieving 5.5 points out of 7 with a rating result of 2835; as a consequence of this accomplishment, he additionally earned personal gold on the 2nd board. Furthermore, Vitiugov helped his team become silver medalists at the 28th European Club Cup in 2012, as well as solo bronze on the third board. Vitiugov earned group gold and solo bronze on the 2nd board at the 2013 Russian Squad Tournament. Vitiugov claimed silver on the 3rd board in the 29th European Club Cup. Vitiugov team, rebranded Mednyi Vsadnik- formally known as Bronze Horseman in 2015, clinched gold at the 2018 European Club Championships for the second time with him bagging an individual gold medal.

Most recent tournaments

Vitiugov has competed in chess games from 1997 to 2022, playing a total of 1768 games; achieving 668 wins, 849 draws, and 251 losses attaining a score of 61.79 percent. Among the recent tournaments Vitiugov has participated in include; sachy.cz Extraliga 2021-22 in the Czech Republic, FIDE Grand Prix 3 Pool D in Germany, FIDE Grand Prix 2 Pool B in Serbia, and the 12th LCC ENG v ROW 2021 in the United Kingdom.

In these particular games, Vitiugov played with both black and white pieces. Most openings played with white pieces include; Queen’s pawn game-69 games, Queen’s Indian defence-27 games, Queen’s Gambit Declined Slav, 3.Nf3-21 games, and Queen’s Gambit Declined, 3.Nc3-20 games whereas he played with Black pieces in the following openings; Sicilian defence-33 games, Bogo-Indian defence-25 games, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Ragozin variation-23 games, and French defence-23 games.

Achievements

Became the U18 European runner-up in 2005
Became the U18 Russian Title winner in 2005
U20 Russian runner-up in 2006 and 2007
Eleventh in the Russian Tournament grand final in 2006
Fourth in the Russian Tournament grand final in 2007
Clinched the Russian Tournament Higher League in 2007 on a deciding set
Attained 4th in the Russian Tournament grand final in 2008
Claimed third place in the Russian Tournament grand final in 2009 only trailing Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler.
Competed in the third Board for Russia’s second team at the Khanty-Mansiysk chess Olympiad in 2010 scoring 6 points out of 9 without conceding a loss in any match.
Finished 5th in the Russian Tournament grand final with 5.5 points out of 11 in 2010.
Claimed 2nd place on a tie break to Le Quang Liem at the Aeroflot Open in 2011 scoring 6.5 points out of 9 points.
Attained equal fifth and tenth on deciding set with 8 points out of 11, a point half less than the leader, in the European tournament in 2011.
Vitiugov assisted his side Saint-Petersburg Chess Association in being crowned silver medalists in the European Club Cup in 2012.
In April 2013, he played 2nd board for his St Petersburg team and helped them be gold medalists at the Russian Team Tournament in 2013.

Did you enjoy reading about Nikita Vitiugov? If you did, you might also be interested in reading about players like Rey Enigma, Pentala Harikrishna, and Leinier Dominguez.

Sources

Nikita Vitiugov – FIDE Chess Grandmaster

Nielsen Peter Heine – the Danish chess sensation

Alexander Onischuk – Ukrainian-American Chess Grandmaster

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