Anish Giri has mixed ethnicity, connecting the two countries, Nepal and Russia. The Dutch Chess Grandmaster moved to the Netherlands in 2009 and previously lived in Russia.
His father, Dr. Sanjay Giri, is a Ph.D. scholar and was born and raised in Birtanagar, Nepal. He met his wife, Olga Giri, in Russia, and the two are civil engineers.
Previously, Anish talked briefly about his Nepali roots and said he had visited the South Asian country for a month as a child. He even asserted that he had learned Nepali during that visit, but it quickly faded after returning to Russia.
Growing up, Anish witnessed various cultures, including Japanese, due to his father constantly relocating for work. Once the youngest Chess Grandmaster, Anish won his fifth Dutch Championship earlier this year in July.
Anish Giri Ethnicity: Origin & Parents
Anish Giri comes from a family with mixed ethnicity and a rich culture. The Dutch chess grandmaster’s father, Sanjay Giri, is Nepali, and his mother, Olga Giri, is Russian.
The couple is supposed to have met in Russia, and their marriage led to them raising three kids. Though he doesn’t talk much about his personal life, the chess grandmaster has two siblings, both sisters.
Sanjay Giri Is A Civil Engineer
Anish’s father, Sanjay Giri, lived most of his youth in Nepal before traveling to Russia for work. He graduated from Tribhuvan University-Pulchowk with a civil engineering degree and worked with the Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation until 1989.
Sanjay then traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, for freelance activities and worked in the marketing and liaison area. After having decided to settle in Russia, Sanjay enrolled at Tajik Technical University and decided to sharpen his Russian.
He earned a certificate in Russian Language Proficiency and later joined Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University and graduated with a civil engineering degree.
He completed his Master’s degree in 1996 from the same university. While in Russia, Sanjay was a Consulting Engineer at INSET and worked there until 2001.
He then, with his family, moved to Japan and enrolled at Hokkaido University to work on his PhD. He was a research associate at Hokkaido and moved to the Netherlands in 2007.
After coming to the Netherlands, Sanjay joined Deltares as an adviser and currently works as a senior expert for Royal HaskoningDHV.
Anish’s mom, Olga Giri, is a Civil Engineer too but has chosen to be a homemaker. Sanjay and Olga are active on Facebook and have shared several family pictures.
Recently, the couple even took a trip to Finland, with Olga sharing a few snaps from their lovely trip. The two civil engineers are also doting grandparents of three, with Sanjay having pictures with his grandkids on Facebook.
Anish Giri Has Two Younger Sisters
The Chess grandmaster Anish Giri has two sisters, Ayusha and Natasha Giri. Unlike their elder brother, Ayusha and Natasha do not play chess professionally.
The girls aren’t active on social media and have kept their Instagram handles private. Natasha graduated from Delft University of Technology and earned her degree in Nanobiology in 2019.
She revisited Japan in 2018 in a JYPE Exchange Program at Tohoku University and worked on a project at the Laboratory of Brain Development.
Natasha completed her Master’s degree from Delft in medical engineering in 2022, and till last month worked as a Laboratory Operations Manager at Delft.
The five-time Dutch Champion hasn’t posted pictures with his siblings on his Instagram handle. He had previously shared a throwback picture of when he was born in 2019 on International Chess Day.
