Vaibhav Gautam wins Silver medal in Men's Wheelchair Category at the 24th World IPCA Chess Championship

How is "Ability" defined in chess?

Let me begin with a puzzle before we get into the story.

To add some context, White is an International Master rated 2339, and Black is rated 1280. You can see the position is quite tense, and one side is completely winning. Who would you place your bet on?

Now, look at the visual moments from this game:

If you thought White was winning, you were mistaken. The winning side belonged to Black. In the video, you saw Vaibhav Gautam, on a wheelchair, taking on one of India's renowned coaches, IM Vishal Sareen. What stands out isn’t just the position on the board, but the sheer fighting spirit of Vaibhav!

In the same video, you might have noticed Vaibhav's father, Manoj Gautam, sitting beside him and helping him move the pieces. Like many chess players, Vaibhav's father was his first opponent. Vaibhav has been living with cerebral palsy since his childhood, because of which he has limited control over his body movements. Chess was introduced to him simply to keep him engaged at home. At first, Manoj would let Vaibhav win just to keep him happy. But soon, Vaibhav started winning on his own. He started memorizing moves and creating strategies. His skills surprised his parents, and they discovered a special talent in him!

The next step was the tournament hall, but it was a step into the unknown. The family wasn’t sure how he would manage in such a setting. But Vaibhav adapted with ease! His first big leap onto the competitive stage was at the Parsvnath Delhi International Chess Tournament in 2017.

Vaibhav’s determination amazes us every day. Even though he cannot walk or speak, he never lets that stop him. He finds tournaments on his own, fills forms on his tablet, and even approaches a coach himself. His passion is stronger than any challenge.

- Manoj Gautam

This interview caught the attention of many people as Vaibhav's father discussed the efforts required to support Vaibhav’s chess journey. His coach, Ankit Rajpara, was among those inspired by the video. He shared his experience working with him:

"Sagar asked me if I could work with Vaibhav and prepare him for the 24th IPCA World Chess Championships 2025. I agreed to work with him. I wasn't sure about how to approach things, as it will be online sessions, and he is unable to speak and has physical disability as well. But in the sessions, either his dad or his sister was there to communicate. With his gestures and some vague words, he was able to communicate with them, and they would communicate it back to me. Regarding the moves, he would show it on his tablet screen, and his dad would communicate that to me."

Over the years, Vaibhav has achieved the following results in the Physically Challenged (PC) category:

Vaibhav participated in the 24th World IPCA Individual Chess Championship 2025 (Specially Abled), where he finished eighth in the rapid section. He also secured a silver medal in the Men's Wheelchair Category. He performed at a rating of 2059, well above his actual rating of 1602. Ankit analyzed three of his games from the tournament for us.

His games clearly reflect his countless hours of practice. "The remarkable thing about Vaibhav is his work ethic and his hunger to learn new things," Ankit shared. Playing chess online does not necessarily improve your game. You need to solve tactics along with it if you seriously want to improve. Ankit advised the same to Vaibhav. "He was playing quite a good number of online games, so I told him to diversify it by doing more online tactics. I also told him to do positional chess work on ChessNeurons. He had some issues in the opening, and he wanted to change some lines and go more in-depth in others. I provided him with the material, and he was quite disciplined about preparing the lines from it," Ankit said.

The position I mentioned at the very start of the article showed that Vaibhav was clearly winning. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to convert it into a win, and the game ended in a draw. Otherwise, it could have been one of Vaibhav’s incredible victories. This, in fact, was something Ankit noticed while working with him. "Vaibhav was struggling to convert his advantage into a win. At times, he shied away from complicated positions. So, we mainly worked on these things, and I tried to increase his knowledge and make him more confident. It worked like a charm as he was able to get some crucial wins in the complicated games in the tournament," Ankit said. No doubt, he was indeed happy with Vaibhav’s performance at the tournament.

Another person who worked closely with Vaibhav during this period was IM Aradhya Garg.

Aradhya started training Vaibhav in March this year. He and Ankit Rajpara worked closely to make sure Vaibhav gives his best at the tournament. "I first met Vaibhav at an event in Delhi. He was with his mom. I was happy to meet them. He was always playing, and his spirit to continue despite his health condition is inspiring," Aradhya shared. He also acknowledged the areas that he has seen Vaibhav improving in in like development, strategic understanding, and game analysis. “From my sessions, seeing him arrive at correct answers after deliberate thought gave both him and me a lot of pleasure,” Aradhya added.

Throughout this journey, Vaibhav's family has stood firmly by his side, providing every kind of support they could. His mother is always with him during tournaments, taking care of logistics and helping him record his moves. Manoj runs a small stationery shop, but whenever a tournament arises, he closes the shop, or Vaibhav’s sister steps in to manage it. Usually, both of Vaibhav’s parents travel with him, as it is difficult for a single person to handle everything on their own. Online training has made it slightly easier for them to manage his practice and tournaments.

Finances have been one of the biggest challenges in Vaibhav's journey. While local tournaments are manageable, traveling out of town or abroad for competitions often stretches their budget. On several occasions, they have even had to turn down opportunities because of the high costs. They have mostly relied on their own savings to keep Vaibhav's chess dream alive. But they have also received support from Mrs. Yamini Arora, both financially and emotionally. "She is truly a kind-hearted woman who helps Vaibhav by providing accommodation," Manoj shared. Sagar Shah helped Vaibhav receive training from Ankit Rajpara and Aradhya Garg before the 24th World IPCA Individual Chess Championship 2025.

We often confuse physical limitations with mental potential. This is the story that proves otherwise. Vaibhav's body may set some boundaries, but his mind has no limits! It simply shows:

Disability does not mean inability!