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Raja Rithvik makes another Winning Move
June 11 of this year will figure as yet another landmark day in the life of the chess prodigy from Telangana State, R Raja Rithvik, who is going places with his meteoric conquests on the board.
Hyderabad: June 11 of this year will figure as yet another landmark day in the life of the chess prodigy from Telangana State, R Raja Rithvik, who is going places with his meteoric conquests on the board.
The tenth standard student of the Jubilee Hills-headquartered Orchids International School secured his second IM Norm following a super showing in the 11th Mumbai Mayors Cup that concluded on Monday.
Raja Rithvik scored 6.5 points from 10 rounds. Making it more fascinating was that the prodigiously gifted 14-year-old matched wits with seven Grand Masters. Not overawed either by the opponent’s stature or the occasion, Raja Rithvik held on to his own.
He held five to a close draw (Kravtsiv Martyn (Ukraine), Burkamin Vladimir (Russia), Tran Tuan Minh (Vietnam), Tukhaev Adam and Ziur Rahman (Bangladesh), outsmarted one and suffered his only loss of the tournament to Grand Master Ghosh Diptyan.
In keeping with the ability to spring surprises and make people notice his talent, he created a sensation in the fifth round when he upset the applecart of Ukraine GM Neverov Valeriy, whose draw offer after the 30th move was summarily rejected by the starry-eyed youngster, who managed to checkmate his heavily fancied opponent in 76 moves.
Following his impressive run in Mumbai, Raja Rithvik improved his rating by 46 points to 2340. Incidentally, the second IM norm was achieved when his Elo rating touched 2296. His firm norm came in the Bangkok Open Chess Championship-2018 where he tallied 6.5 points from nine rounds.
Taken under any yardstick, this is phenomenal consistency by one, who pocketed five gold medals in the recent Under-14 Asian Youth Chess Championship. He will don India colours in the World Youth Chess Championship, which is being hosted by Greece in October.
‘I am privileged to be under the wings of a passionately dedicated workaholic like (NVS) Rama Raju Sir. He has been more than a mentor as he has been brushing my techniques and making me mentally match-ready.
I am thankful to the management of Orchids International School for granting me concessions for training and participations. I am eagerly looking forward to be part of the Indian squad at the Commonwealth Chess Championship-2018 to be conducted in New Delhi later this month’, said the boy.
Meanwhile, he was on Tuesday felicitated by Alipuram Venkateswar Reddy, Chairman of Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) on his arrival in the city. Accompany the boy were his mother, grandfather and KS Prasad, Secretary of Telangana State Chess Association (TSCA).
