On Independence Day, GM Raunak Sadhwani brought laurels to the country by emerging winner in Spilimbergo Masters Chess Tournament in Italy.
Sadhwani finished the tournament with a score of 7/9 points. He was unbeaten throughout the tournament and gained 10 ELO rating points. Sadhwani played out a draw in the ninth and final round against GM Adam Kozak of Hungary. Sadhwani and Italian GM Pier Luigi Basso finished level on seven points after nine rounds but the Indian emerged on top on the basis of a better tie-break score. Seeded fourth, the Indian faced five GMs in the event and beat Oskar Wieczorek of Poland and drew his games against the four others. His wins came against Italian Joshuaede Cappelletto, Aron Pasti of Hungary, Lorezno Lodici of Italy and France's Loic Travadon.
This is his 7th tournament in a row in Europe. He played good qualify chess and manage to become champion in the Itlay event.
Even GM Vishwanathan Anand is happy with his superb performance and tweeted "Very happy to see @sadhwani 2005 do well in Italy. He is part of our Westbridge Anand Chess Academy. He is someone who works very diligently on all aspects of his chess. Physical fitness included. Excellent Work ethics !
Talking to Lokmat Times Sadhwani said, " Always a nice feeling to win the tournament and that too on 75th Independence Day makes it much more special. I am glad that I played well throughout the tournament and finally managed to become champion and was also able to handle those intense battles over the boards quite well. I want to thank my mentor GM Vishwanathan Anand sir, my sponsors for their constant support. Also I would like to thank my coach GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly for helping me to reach new heights."