Spreading joy and happiness in the world of chess - Anish Giri

by Sagar Shah - 28/06/2025

Born in 1994, Anish Giri turns 31 years old today on 28th of June 2025. Anish is a player whom we have known for almost a decade now. In this article Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal go down the memory lane with some selected images that tell the story of what a gem of an individual Anish is. We first met Anish in 2015 at the London Chess Classic! The young GM has now turned into an experienced one, but still remains at the top of world rankings!

Anish Giri turns 31 years old today

By Sagar Shah and photos by Amruta Mokal

The first time I met Anish properly was in 2017 at the FIDE World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia. We were just beginning our journey at ChessBase India, but when Anish saw us, he started talking about some of the videos and articles we had posted. Seeing the fact that a world class GM was following the work we were doing was greatly inspiring!

Anish would come to the press room after almost every single game that he played at the FIDE World Cup and would analyze it on my computer! I got insights into how a super GM thinks and calculates!

Anish playing in Georgia was a wonderful thing for Sopiko! She could spend time with her family! Little Danny was just 1 year old back then!

That little 1-year-old boy whom we met in Tbilisi, was commentating with us in Prague 2025! :)

Back in 2017 Anish was just 23 years old and was already a father, husband and a super GM! He would play his games and then spend time with his family!

The single best decision of Anish's life - marrying Sopiko!

Anish and Sopiko at the Qatar Masters 2015

Style icons - Anish and Sopiko!

There are only a few people who can make someone laugh like this! Anish with former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov!

Anish Giri and Vishy Anand have always shared a beautiful bond. This one is during the London Chess Classic 2015!

At the FIDE Candidates 2016!

In very rare cases, someone doesn't really appreciate Anish's humour!

At some point Anish got eliminated from the World Cup. We were there until the very end, covering the event. On one of the days, Anish asked us if we would like to go on a walk with him through the city of Tbilisi. Amruta and I were thrilled. We usually have absolutely no time to do any sight seeing during an event when we are covering it, but this was too tempting of an offer to pass!

Through the streets of Tbilisi with Anish!

Late in the night when we would be working in the press room, Anish would often stop by along with Erwin l'Ami after their dinner! I am glad we took this picture as a lovely memory!

Anish always had this ability to find the right talent! Here he is with Vidit, who was his second back then, now a very close friend!

The lassi boys!

The boxing boys!

I have always been in awe as to how someone can be so relaxed and chilled before every game at a chess tournament! Seeing Anish smiling and laughing before the game was a very refreshing sight for me!

There are several interviews of Anish explaining so many subtle points of how a top level player thinks on the ChessBase India channel. Below I am going to link a few of my favourite educational videos of Anish!

Anish Giri teaches the Sicilian Najdorf

Anish Giri teaches the French!

Anish Giri teaches the Italian

Anish Giri teaches the Sicilian Dragon!

Anish Giri teaches the Grunfeld!

You can find all of Anish's amazing courses on Chessable over here: ANISH GIRI on CHESSABLE

We gifted Anish ChessPa in Chess Adventure Park in December 2022. Little Michael loves it!

Anish always bonded well with almost all the top Indian players! (From left to right): Sagar, Anish Giri, Padmini Rout, Surya Ganguly, Tania Sachdev, Vidit Gujrathi and Amruta Mokal

Recording a video course at Anish's home in Hague for ChessBase!

Anish and Sopiko visited the family of Amruta after Vidit's wedding in Pune!

If you wanted to know about Anish's life story in 11 minutes then this video is for you...

...and if you wanted to know it in detail then this video is for you!

Anish and his kind heart!

When we, at ChessBase India, wanted to organize the Death Match 1.0 between Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi, I asked Anish if the prize fund of Rs.3 lakh for the winner and Rs.2 lakh for the loser would make sense. He agreed to it. Later we increased it to Rs.5 lakh to the winner and Rs.3 lakh to the loser. After winning the Death Match 1.0, Anish instantly announced that he would donate Rs.2 lakh to HelpChess. This money was then used to support two young talents - Ilamparthi and Jubin Jimmy - both of whom have become talented young IMs.

Anish Giri with Ilamparthi at the WR Chess Masters 2023!

Thank you Anish for being the wonderful person that you are in the world of chess! Thank you for bringing brightness and smiles into the lives of so many people! We wish you a very happy birthday!

Important Links

Follow Anish Giri on Twitter

Anish Giri's Playlist on ChessBase India YouTube (369 videos)

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