‘Divith Reddy Adulla’ winner of World Cadet Under-8 Championship 2024 is related to which game ?
- (1)Swimming
- (2)Chess
- (3)Table Tennis
- (4)Gymnastics
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Chess.
Divith Reddy Adulla is a chess player from Telangana. All India Radio reported on 27 November 2024 that the eight-year-old won gold at the Under-8 World Cadets Chess Championship in Montesilvano, Italy.
He scored 9 points out of a possible 11, level with India's Sattwik Swain. Divith took gold on the tie-break, Sattwik took silver, and Guo Ziming of China took bronze.
AIR adds that Divith won his first four games, lost the next two, and then won the final five rounds.
The World Cadets is a FIDE world age-group championship. Its 2024 edition had six sections: Under-8, Under-10 and Under-12, each with an open and a girls event.
The idea to remember: Divith Reddy Adulla, chess, World Cadets Under-8 Open champion, Montesilvano, Italy, November 2024.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Swimming — Divith's title is in chess, awarded at a FIDE championship in Montesilvano, Italy, in November 2024.
Swimming would be the answer for an Indian swimmer such as Srihari Nataraj, a backstroker who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The word "Cadet" in the stem is an age-group label, not a clue to the sport.
- (3)Table Tennis — Divith competes in chess, not table tennis. His gold came in the Under-8 Open section of the World Cadets Chess Championship 2024.
Table tennis is the sport RPSC's 2021 paper matched to Bhavina Patel, in a question pairing Indian para-athletes with their sports.
- (4)Gymnastics — Divith's world title is a chess title, won on tie-break after scoring 9 out of 11 at Montesilvano.
Gymnastics would be the answer for Dipa Karmakar, the Indian artistic gymnast who finished fourth in the women's vault final at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Concept
FIDE, the international chess federation, holds world championships by age group. The World Cadets Championship covers Under-8, Under-10 and Under-12, with open and girls sections in each.
Players finishing on the same points are separated by tie-breaks. One is the Buchholz score, which adds up the points scored by a player's opponents.
In the 2024 Under-8 Open, three players finished on 9 points. FIDE's report says the Buchholz tie-break put Divith first, Sattwik Swain second and Guo Ziming third.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Games and Sports related activities" and "Persons, Places and Institutions in News" under Current Affairs.
Divith's title was one of several Indian chess results in late 2024. In September 2024, India won both the open and women's gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
On 12 December 2024, D. Gukesh won the World Chess Championship in Singapore, defeating Ding Liren. Both results came before the exam date, 2 February 2025.
Key facts
- Divith Reddy Adulla of Telangana won the Under-8 Open gold at the 2024 World Cadets Chess Championship in Montesilvano, Italy.
- He scored 9 out of 11 and took gold over India's Sattwik Swain on the Buchholz tie-break, according to FIDE.
- Sattwik Swain (India) won silver and Guo Ziming (China) bronze in that section, both also on 9 points.
- The 2024 World Cadets had six sections: Under-8, Under-10 and Under-12, each open and girls.
- D. Gukesh won the World Chess Championship in Singapore on 12 December 2024, defeating Ding Liren.
All three finished on 9 out of 11; the Buchholz tie-break decided the order.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading the sport off the event name: "Cadet" is an age-group label, and this championship was FIDE's, in chess.
- Swapping the two Indians: Divith and Sattwik Swain both scored 9 points, and the tie-break gave Divith gold.
- Mixing sections: Divith won the Under-8 Open, while the 2024 Under-8 Girls title went to Chen Zhihan of China.
A question can name a young champion and ask for the sport, the host country or the age section. A question can also ask which Indian took silver when two Indians finished level on points.
A question can set several recent chess results side by side, such as a world title and an age-group title, and ask which statements are correct.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2021 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Indian player won the silver medal in the Under-8 Open section of the World Cadets Chess Championship 2024 held in Montesilvano, Italy?
- (a)Sattwik Swain
- (b)Divith Reddy Adulla
- (c)Guo Ziming
- (d)Chen Zhihan
Answer(1) — Sattwik Swain scored 9 points and took silver on tie-break. Option (2) won gold on the same points; option (3) won bronze and plays for China; option (4) won the Under-8 Girls section for China. - practice — not a real PYQ
The World Cadets Chess Championship 2024, in which Divith Reddy Adulla won the Under-8 Open title, was held in which country?
- (a)Georgia
- (b)Italy
- (c)Kazakhstan
- (d)Egypt
Answer(2) — It was held in Montesilvano, Italy. Options (1), (3) and (4) were not the host country.