Hyderabad: 16-year-old Raja Rithvik from Hyderabad has been selected to represent India in the World Youth Under-16 Category Rapid Online Chess Championship. The Championship will be held from December 11 to December 13.
Rithvik, who is an 11th class student of Bhavan’s Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Sainikpuri, told Telangana Today that it is a big opportunity to showcase his talent at the international level.
The world chess federation (FIDE) is organizing the tournament online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this year. Earlier, it was scheduled to be held on-board in Romania.
Rithvik, with a FIDE Rating of 2408, has been undergoing coaching at Race Chess Academy under the reputed coach N.V.S. Rama Raju. Raju hoped that this tournament will help Rithvik in improving his game. He is confident that his trainee will perform well in the tournament.
Last year, Rithvik bagged the Under-15 National title at Erode, Tamil Nadu. He also had the rare distinction of winning two National Championships titles (Under-13 & Under-17) at the age of 13 years when he achieved the feat at Coimbatore in 2017.
During the last few years, Rithvik has won ten gold medals in various international tournaments and many national medals.