NAGPUR’S only chess Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani has been selected by Bengaluru based WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy (WACA) for fellowship where he will be mentored and trained by GM and former world champion Viswanathan Anand. At present the training will be held virtually due coronavirus pandemic. In the recent past GM Anand had rated Sadhwani highly and had predicted a great future for the youngster. According to a media release, WestBridge Capital, under the umbrella of its public charitable trust, WestBridge Charitable Foundation, will be launching a chess fellowship programme, in partnership with chess maestro GM Anand, establishing the WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy (WACA).

 

In the initial list of grantees of WACA Fellowship, five top rated and talented chess players of the country have been selected which includes GM Sadhwani, who will be turning 15 on December 22. The list includes Grandmasters, R Praggnanandhaa (15 years old with rating 2608), Nihal Sarin (16 years old with rating 2620), GM Raunak Sadhwani (14 years old with rating 2545), D Gukesh (14 years old with rating 2563) and R Vaishali (19 years old, with rating 2393) who is R Praggnanandhaa’s sister. Nihal and Praggnanandhaa are ranked 11th and 12th in the Classical Chess Under-20 category while Gukesh and Raunak are 26th and 32nd respectively. Vaishali stands 9th in the Girl U-20 category, states the release. Moreover, Vaishali and Nihal have secured a 3rd and the 4th spot in blitz chess category. The ‘WACA Fellows’ as these selected players will be called, have proved themselves at various levels and have a huge potential to secure the highest global ranking in the game, the media statement said. Talking about the initiative, GM Anand said, “Chess has made a lot of progress in the last twenty years.

 

I think many players in the country have the potential, under the right guidance, to make it to the top ten and even become world champions. It is heartening to see firms like WestBridge come forward and support the sport to shape the future of chess in the country.” WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy will facilitate mentorship to both, established and upcoming/ aspiring players with the aim to promote the sport of intellect in the country and ‘pass the baton’, to produce more world champions for India in the game of chess. WACA will identify deserving candidates every year, with the potential to break into the top world chess ranking, and grant fellowships to propel these young chess champs, towards greater glory and milestones.

 

With mentoring from GM Anand and his team of experts and WestBridge’s monetary support, WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy, in addition to providing the thrust to help them excel in the sport, also hopes to positively impact the lives of the ‘WACA Fellows’ by rewarding them for their achievements, the release added. The WACA will be assisted by known and established trainers like FIDE Senior Trainer German Grandmaster Artur Jussupow, Polish Grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski , an expert in opening preparation and Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda from Kolkata. All of them have been part of GM Anand’s World Championship endeavours. The WACA will be adopting a dynamic form of mentoring to adapt to what works best for the selected candidates and will transition to offline training, interactions, and mentorship sessions as deemed fit and under expert coach and faculty recommendations.