Raunak second best in international event

 

 

 

 

EMERGING victors in three Armageddon games, Nagpur’s only Grandmaster 14-year-old Raunak Sadhwani stunned world’s strongest GMs to win a creditable second place in the international online chess festival, the other day. Maharashtra’s youngest GM, Raunak once again showed his skill and talent in chess as he finished behind compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram in the One Belt One Road International Online Rapid Chess Festival which was organised by North America Chess Hub. In the seven-day event, Raunak had to play a two-day qualifying round and then the main round. Raunak, Maharashtra’s youngest Shiv Chhatrapati award winner, stamped his authority in Armageddon rounds in the knock-out stage to become the most eligible player to play the summit clash. Raunak, who will be celebrating his 15th birthday in a couple of weeks, scored stunning victories over GMs from Armenia, China and the United States to book a date with eventual champion Chithambaram.

 

The 2545 elo rated Raunak opened up with a shocking win over Armenia’s GM Samvel ter Sahakyan and then stunned higher rated Chinese Grandmaster Jun Zhao. In both the rounds, Raunak managed to win one and lose one and thus had to play the Armageddon round. He then defended his black pieces brilliantly and held the strong GMs of the world to storm into the quarter-finals. High on confidence, Raunak then ousted world junior championship runners-up Armenia’s GM Manuel Petrosian (elo 2628). He managed to hold Petrosian in the first game and then beat him comfortably to walk into the semi-final. In the last four battle, Raunak managed to hold world junior number two GM Jeffery Xiong of US.

 

After playing two draws, Raunak was back in Armageddon battle, for the third time in one single tournament. Raunak, who always prefers black in Armageddon, once again decided to defend. His trick worked as he once again managed to hold the higher ranked player and confirmed his place for the summit clash with Chithambaram. In the four-game final, Chithambaram managed to get better of Raunak 3-1. The city boy was satisfied with his performance though it was a tiring tournament for him. He won prize of Rs 60,000 for his second place finish.