GM Raunak Sadhwani with his splendid performance at FIDE Grand Swiss, Riga, Latvia climbed to the first place in the Under-16 age category. His current live rating is 2616 which takes him to the top of the world list in under 16.
He was given a wild card entry by FIDE to compete against the strong players from all over the world in FIDE Grand Swiss organised by World chess Federation and Chess.com.
Sadhwani scored 5.5 points out of 11 rounds with all the higher-rated opponents .He won three games, lost 3 and 5 draws. He performed with a whooping rating performance of 2656 and gained 7 ELO rating points.
Happy with performance: Raunak
While talking to this newspaper Raunak said, "I am really grateful that I got this opportunity to compete against the mighty masters of the world . It was a very tough event, I fought very complicated battles over the chessboard which lasted 5-6 hours every day. I am quite happy with my performance. This event gives me a lot of confidence & self -belief. Overall a satisfactory event for me with a multitude of amazing lessons and experiences".
Raunak further said, " For sometime it feels great that now I am World No.1 in under-16 but it's not enough, I always want more & I will work hard even more for that. I also want to thank my mentor, former World Champion Vishwanathan Anand ,West Bridge Anand Chess Academy, Microsense Networks and my coaches ."
Now Raunak is looking at Tata Steel Invitational Blitz Event at National Library , Kolkata to be held on November 21 and 22.
Game Statistics -
1st round - Draw against Bulgaria no. 2 - GM Cheparinov Ivan.
2nd round - Lost to GM Sjugirov Sanan of Russia .
3rd round - Draw against Dutch no. 2 GM Van Foreest Jorden from Netherlands
4th round - Draw against GM Matlakov Maxim of Russia.
5th round - Win against GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr of Russia .
6th round - Win against the compatriot D. Gukesh from India .
7th round - Lost to GM Predke Alexandr from Russia .
8th round - Draw with GM Chigaev Maksim of Russia .
9th round - Win against legendary player of Russia GM Dreev Aleksey.
10th round - Lost to World Junior no.3 GM Sarana Alexey of Russia .
11th round - Draw against USA Junior no.3 Niemann Hans Moke.