India’s Nihal Sarin triumphs, Raunak Sadhwani finishes second at Silver Lake Open Chess tournament in Serbia
Indian youngsters including Raunak Sadhwani dominated the Silver Lake Open Classical Chess tournament in Serbia by clinching the top three spots.
Sixteen-year-old Grandmaster Nihal Sarin emerged as champion by notching up eight points in the nine-round tournament. Fifteen-year-old Raunak Sadhwani finished runner-up with seven points to his credit. Completing the 1-2-3 for India, Abhimanyu Puranik claimed third position.
Raunak Sadhwani, the tenth youngest GM in history, finished a creditable second with a brilliant performance. In the ninth and final round, Maharashtra’s Raunak Sadhwani played out an easy draw with International Master Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis of Greece.
The open international rating tournament witnessed the participation of 131 players from 27 countries.
Raunak, Abhimanyu Puranik, and Makhnev Denis all finished with 7 points each
Raunak Sadhwani, GM Abhimanyu Puranik and Kazakhstan's Makhnev Denis all ended up with seven points each but the Nagpur-based boy was adjudged to be second. The fourth youngest Indian to become a Grandmaster, Rauank had a better tie-break point which helped him secure second spot.
Raunak, the Under-10 Commonwealth champion in 2015 in New Delhi, played with white pieces on the second board, calling it a truce with the 10th seed opponent.
Raunak was satisfied with his performance and said it was amazing to be back playing in the board competition after such a long gap.
“I am happy with my second place finish. It was a very strong field and to finish in second spot was very satisfying. It was amazing to return to playing chess over the board chess,” said Raunak.
The young chess prodigy played several tournaments during the lockdown and did well too.
“I have always said that I would prefer board chess to an online one. I am happy with my performance and the quality of the games I played. I think I can play much higher level chess in my upcoming tournaments. This performance has boosted my confidence a great deal,” Raunak added.
The 15-year-old also thanked the organizers for inviting him for the prominent tourney, which concluded on Wednesday.
“I thank the organizers of Silver Lake for inviting me. I got a chance to play with quality players which will help me in the season ahead. My win in the penultimate round was very important,” he concluded.
Raunak bounced back in the eighth round after three draws to beat Serbian International Master (IM) and 14th seed Boskovic Drasko. That crucial victory kept him in the title hunt but Sarin’s win over his rival assured him the title. Raunak pocketed 600 Euros for a second-place finish.