Indian GM Raunak Sadhwani wins Tiger Cup Blitz 2022 chess tournament in Russia
Raunak Sadhwani convincingly won the Tiger Cup Blitz 2022 chess tournament in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sunday. The Indian Grandmaster stamped his authority in style to clinch the crown.
Nagpur teenager Sadhwani scored 10.5 points in 12 rounds to emerge as champion. The 16-year-old dominated the field with 10 wins, one draw and one loss. Sadhwani gained +23 ELO rating points and now has a live Blitz rating of 2639.
It was an invitational event in which Sadhwani was the only Grandmaster from India. More than 100 players participated in the event.
Sadhwani finished third in the rapid chess event
Sadhwani won third place in the 8-player round robin rapid event which was of two-day duration. He scored 4.5 out of a possible seven points with four wins, one draw and two losses, and notched up +8 ELO Rating points.
Sadhwani also registered victory against top seed GM Amonatov Farrukh of Tajikistan.
The annual tournament is organized to create awareness to save tigers around the world.
“I want to thank the organizers for inviting me to this prestigious tournament and for their great hospitality. I am glad that I contributed my part to the Save the Tigers awareness campaign. There is a similarity between tigers and chess players and that is they both love to checkmate,” Sadhwani told Sportskeeda.
“It was a very long, tiring journey to Vladivostok, around 18 hours from India. But I would say that all is well that ends well. Becoming champion is always a special moment. I am really happy with my performance in the fast format of chess. Playing blitz requires a lot of energy and I am happy I did my best,” he added.
A chess prodigy, Sadhwani became Grandmaster at the age of 13.