Nikita Vitiugov is a leading Russian chess grandmaster who first achieved his grandmaster title in 2007. He was born in the Soviet Union, on February 4, 1987, and was taught to play chess by his father at the age of six. He quickly proved to be a skilled player, winning several national and international youth competitions.
In 2009, Vitiugov's career progressed when he won the 10th Aeroflot Open in Moscow and started to achieve a number of other significant results. These included winning the Russian Championship Superfinal in 2010, placing second at the European Individual Championship in 2012, and finishing joint first at the Gibraltar Chess Festival in 2013.
Vitiugov has also represented Russia in team competitions several times, with one of his most notable performances being at the World Team Chess Championship in 2013, where he helped Russia secure a gold medal.
Vitiugov is also a chess author and wrote a book in 2010 called "The French Defence: A Complete Black Repertoire", which provides detailed guidance on the French Defence from the black side.
Notably, he held a drawing record in classical chess games, which ended in January 2018 after 56 games. The previous record was held by Mikhail Tal at 95 games.