For someone who held the Guinness World Record for being the ‘fastest in reverse spelling’ in 2005, Raghava Srivathsav now has something to rave about in chess too – the South Asian amateur championship title he won on Tuesday in Jammu.
The first year degree student of Nizam College, who is known for his amazing skills in reverse spelling words and sentences since he was 3-years-old, Raghav is delighted with the triumph in the South Asian championship (for all below ELO 2000) which featured about 400 players from across the continent.
“This is an important win as this is the official South Asian-level title for amateurs. It gives me lot of confidence as I pursue my goal of becoming a grandmaster,” says the chess player who is inspired by former world champion Viswanathan Anand and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
“I was confident of winning the title in Jammu, and got the feeling that this event would be mine after I won the first five rounds. I had a gut feeling that if I don’t make too many easy mistakes, the championship will be mine,” says Raghav, whose father resigned as a subeditor in Enaadu newspaper to be the mentor the child prodigy.
“No doubt, this is the biggest win of my career and one that I badly needed. I feel immensely satisfied and proud as now I have the tag of South Asian champion,” says reminds Raghav, whose parents — Shyam Sundar and Krishnaveni — hail from Alisagar village of Yedapally mandal of Nizamabad district.
Raghav also holds five Limca Records for playing blindfold chess in five different forms.
Besides being a serious chess player, he is preparing really hard for the Civil Services examination.
