Nagpur: Vidarbha’s second Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani secured the Scheldemond International Chess Tournament title in Vlissingen, Netherlands, on Saturday.In the nine-round event played in the classical format, Nagpur’s first GM Raunak remained unbeaten to finish on top of the table, collecting 7.5 points. The top-seeded 22-year-old Raunak won seven games and drew three boards to conclude the tournament on a par with England GM Daniel Howard Fernandez at 7.5 points each. Based on the tie-break criterion of direct encounter, Raunak prevailed over Howard. In the seventh round, Raunak registered a facile 35-move victory over fourth-seeded Howard. Later, in the ninth and final round, 2640-Elo Raunak utilised his opening advantage with the white pieces well to outclass Netherlands IM De Boer Eelke to emerge champion.Overall, Raunak produced a strong and consistent performance in which he registered a fourth-round victory over Van Delft Merijn in a marathon 80-move battle that lasted for 5.5 hours. In the eighth and penultimate round, Raunak played a quick 10-move draw against Netherlands GM Max Warmerdam, who finished third with seven points.A total of 212 players from across the world participated in the tournament, and Raunak was elated with his title triumph.He said, “I am very happy to win the Scheldemond chess title. Winning tournaments always holds a special place and creates wonderful memories in my life. It also gives me a lot of self-belief and confidence, and motivates me to prepare even better for the next events ahead. Really happy to win this tournament. I am glad to stay consistent throughout the tournament.”Raunak added, “The key moment was staying calm in critical positions and converting small advantages. Tiebreaks are always tricky, so I am happy things went my way this time. Being top seed always brings pressure, but I tried to focus only on one game at a time. That approach helped me stay steady throughout the event.”
