After chess high, its exam time for Divya, Raunak

By Paritosh Pramanik
April 10, 2019

AFTER scratching their heads with rooks, bishops, knights and pawns, city’s chess prodigies will now be turning hundreds of pages from their curriculum when they return to city and appear for their Class VII exams.
City’s ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ chess wizards International Master Raunak Sadhwani and Woman International Master Divya Deshmukh, both students of Std VII, have won accolades in last couple of months when they participated in Sharjah and Dubai International chess competitions.
With the tournaments clashing with their examinations, both were given exemption by their schools to appear for the same at later dates.
With Dubai Open concluding on Tuesday where they gave commendable performances apart from winning important rating points, Divya, a student of Bhavan’s Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines branch, and Raunak, a student of Centre Point School, Katol Road, will keep the chess boards aside and concentrate on their exams.
Both are equally talented and sharp in their studies and would have no difficulties while switching from board to books preparing for their final exams.
The best part is the support both the chess genius get from their respective schools.
Youngest Shiv Chhatrapati award winner Divya has been carrying an extra baggage of her study material while playing tournaments. She has made it a point to balance studies and sports equally. Her school has permitted her to appear for final exams once she returns from Dubai.
“Divya will appear for her exams once we are back. School Principal Anju Bhutani is very supportive and has agreed to take her exams after the tournament. From tomorrow it’s exam time for her,” said Divya’s mother Dr Namrata Deshmukh while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ from Dubai.
“We are carrying books and she studies daily till she finishes the decided chapter. Sometimes if chess preparation is more she does not get time to study,” added Dr Namrata.
It’s been a long tour for Divya since she left the Indian shores for Moscow meet.
“We were in Moscow, Vietnam before coming to UAE. In February, we were in Moscow and then moved to Ho Chi Minh for Vietnam Open. From there we came to UAE for these meets,” said Divya’s mother.
In Moscow Divya got Second WGM norm. She missed the IM norm by a whisker but managed to raise her ELO Rating. At Vietnam, Divya gave a decent performance. She again improved her ELO by around 59 points.
The Sharjah meet was a big learning experience for Divya. And at Dubai, she is playing with altogether different rating and is learning to adjust with that 
rating.
“Playing with this rating is different as she has to fight back strongly. She is learning and also playing with maximum power, fighting back,” said Divya’s mother.
Similarly, Raunak, too, has performed well in these two tournaments and will be appearing for his exams immediately after returning to India.
“School plays a very important role in Raunak’s journey. They are very supportive and co-operative,” said Raunak’s mother Hina.
Unlike Divya, Raunak does not carry any school books. He wants to concentrate only on chess at the moment. But he has the ability to grasp quickly and thus believes that he will be ready for his examinations.
“During tournaments studying is not possible for him (Raunak). He is focused on his game.
“Actually at this level balancing both is very difficult.
“To some extent studies get affected. Once Raunak becomes Grandmaster he will take a break from chess and focus on his studies,” said Hina.
Hina credited Raunak’s school for their support. “School is very supportive, Principal Shilpi Ganguly encourages him to move ahead in chess and bring glory for everyone. As for his grasping power, he learns very fast. Normally, chess players grasp things very fast.
“At this level he is very close to becoming a Grandmaster. So we are focusing on that and keeping studies aside for time being. It’s a brain game, so distractions are not good during tournaments.
“Once his GM title is achieved, he will keep chess aside for sometime. He needs just two GM norms and a rating of 25 more points to become a Grand Master,” said Hina, who is with Raunak in Dubai.
Mrudul Dehankar, who appeared for her Std IX exams and flew for tournaments just a couple of days later, did not have a great tournament. But she too is a bright future of the city.
“This time Mrudul could not concentrate on chess as she had her Std IX exam. She got just two days to prepare for these meets,” said Mrudul’s father Vilas.
He also thanked Mrudul’s school Bhavan’s Trimurti Nagar branch for supporting her.
“They are very supportive. Principal Parvati Iyer has supported Mrudul which helped her achieve this success,” said Vilas.
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