18 Facts About Nikita Vitiugov

Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov is a Russian chess grandmaster who internationally represents England since 2023.

Nikita Vitiugov changed federations in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nikita Vitiugov was a member of the victorious Russian team at the World Team Chess Championship in 2009 and 2013.

Nikita Vitiugov was the winner of the 2021 Russian Chess Championship.

Nikita Vitiugov was the under 18 Russian champion in 2005 and the runner-up at the European under 18 championship in the same year.

Nikita Vitiugov came second at the Russian Junior Championship both in 2006 and 2007.

Nikita Vitiugov finished runner-up in the 2006 World Junior Chess Championship.

Later that year, Nikita Vitiugov competed in the World Cup, where he knocked out Alexei Bezgodov in the first round and Anton Korobov in the second, before losing to Vladimir Potkin in the third round.

In June 2012, Nikita Vitiugov tied for first place with Dmitry Andreikin and Daniil Dubov in the Russian Championship Higher League, finishing in third place on tiebreak.

In January 2013, Nikita Vitiugov won the Masters tournament of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival beating defending champion Nigel Short in a rapid playoff.

Nikita Vitiugov acted as a second for Peter Svidler in the Candidates Tournaments of 2013 and 2014.

In 2016 Nikita Vitiugov tied for first in the Grenke Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany with Matthias Blubaum, Vladimir Fedoseev, Milos Perunovic, Ni Hua, and Francisco Vallejo Pons, taking third place on tiebreak.

Nikita Vitiugov won this tournament the following year on tiebreak from Maxim Matlakov, Etienne Bacrot and Zdenko Kozul.

In 2018, Nikita Vitiugov participated in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic.

Nikita Vitiugov made his debut in the Russian national team in August 2009 playing in the 6th China-Russia Match, held with the Scheveningen system.

The next year, Nikita Vitiugov played for Russia in the 43rd Chess Olympiad and took the team bronze medal.

Nikita Vitiugov plays for Saint Petersburg Chess Federation in the Russian Team Championship and in the European Chess Club Cup.

Nikita Vitiugov's team, renamed to Mednyi Vsadnik in 2015, won the gold medal again in the European Club Cup in 2018.