Sadhwani jumps 18 places with win

 

 

 

INDIAN Grandmaster Nagpur’s Raunak Sadhwani jumped 18 places with a win in the fourth round of the Serbia Chess Open 2021 - Masters under way at Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade. In the fourth round, Sadhwani was pitted against Turkey’s Fide Master Baglan Esat (2359). Playing with the favoured coloured pieces on 18th board, Sadhwani registered a win to pocket one full point to swell his tally to 3.5. A draw in the third round against a lower-ranked compatriot Pranav V had pushed Sadhwani to 30th place but he bounced back and the victory gave him a jump and he was occupying 12th place.

 

Only three players have managed to keep their slate clean after four rounds. Armenia’s GM Petrosyan Manuel is leading the chart and is followed by GM from Ukraine Shevchenko Kirill and Serbia’s GM Indjic Aleksandar. Tamil Nadu’s Pranav and Telangana’s Erigaisi are the two Indians in top ten occupying sixth and tenth spots respectively with 3.5 points each. As many as 19 players are tied at 3.5 points apeice with the tie-break scores separating them in the field of over 300 players. Sadhwani has a good opportunity to record another win as he will be locking horns with a player who is seeded 133rd. Turkey’s IM Ozenir Ekin Baris (2331) will lay with white pieces against 26th seed Sadhwani (2555).