Harshit Raja | |
|---|---|
 Raja Harshit in Grenke Chess Open 2019 | |
| Country | India |
| Born | April 3, 2001 Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2022) |
| FIDE rating | 2487 (January 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2522 (August 2023) |
Harshit Raja (born 2001) is a chess grandmaster from Pune, India. He became India's 69th Grandmaster in 2021, at the age of 20. [1]
In 2014, Raja finished 2nd in the National Chess Championship U13 taking place in Jamshedpur, and won the School Games Federation of India's National School Games, taking place in Tamil Nadu. [2] In 2015, he participated in the World Youth Chess Championship finishing 15th. [3] Raja became an International Master in 2017. He received the Shiv Chhatrapati Award in 2019. [4] He met all the requirements for the title of Grandmaster in 2021, becoming India's 69th Grandmaster. [5]
As of 2020, Raja has been studying at the Trulaske College of Business of University of Missouri. [6]
A chess prodigy is a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even titled chess masters. Some chess prodigies have progressed to become grandmasters or even World Chess Champions.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess grandmaster. Humpy is a runner-up of the Women's World Chess Championship and the reigning two-time Women's World Rapid Chess Champion. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster aged 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, a record only since surpassed by Hou Yifan. Humpy is a gold medalist at the Olympiad, Asian Games, and Asian Championship. She is also the first Indian female grandmaster.
Parimarjan Negi is an Indian chess grandmaster. He achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 20 days, which made him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time. As of September 2023, he is the seventh youngest player to achieve this feat.
The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries. The event offers direct titles: IM titles to the winners, and FM titles to the Silver and Bronze medalists.
Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly is an Indian chess grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676. Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a grandmaster at the age of 19.
Anish Kumar Giri is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he completed the requirements for the grandmaster title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days. Giri is a five-time Dutch champion and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has represented the Netherlands at seven Chess Olympiads. He has also won major international tournaments, including the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament, 2017 Reykjavik Open, 2023 Tata Steel Chess, and shared 1st place in the 2015 London Chess Classic. In 2019 he won clear first at the Third Edition of the Shenzhen Masters.
Simon Kim Williams is an English chess grandmaster and author who is best known under the pseudonym and Chess Server Nickname "GingerGM".
Vidit Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 2700. He is a double gold medalist at the Chess Olympiad. He is also a silver medalist at the Asian Games. He became the third Indian to qualify for the Candidates tournament by winning Grand Swiss 2023.
Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess grandmaster and chess prodigy. In 2018, he passed the Elo rating of 2600 at 14 years old, which at the time made him the third youngest player in history to do so.
Prathamesh Mokal is an Indian chess player. He is an International Master as well as FIDE Trainer, and won the Shiv Chhatrapati Award (2005). He is also a black belt in karate and koryū. He received the Shiv-Chhatrapati Award from Maharashtra government in 2004 for his achievements in Chess.
Akshat Chandra is an American chess player. He started playing Chess during a visit to India in 2009 when he was nine years old. In 2015, he won the US National K-12 Championship and was also the US Junior Champion, the first time both titles were held by the same person in a single year. He earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in March 2017.
Gukesh Dommaraju is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion, the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and the third-youngest to have surpassed 2700 Elo at the age of 16. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and is the third-youngest grandmaster in chess history.
Shiv Chhatrapati Award is the highest prestigious sports award honoured annually to the players of Maharashtra by the Government of Maharashtra in India.
Stany George Anthony is an Indian chess player and a chess grandmaster. In 2012, he became Karnataka's youngest international master at the time after completing his final norm in Rethymno International Open, Greece. In December 2018 he completed his final grand master norm in National Senior Chess Championship, Jammu and became India's fifty-eighth and Karnataka's second grandmaster. He was given the Ekalavya Award by the Govt of Karnataka in 2012. Stany is a B.Com. graduate and has done masters in business administration.
Bharath Subramaniyam is an Indian chess grandmaster (GM).
Pallathur Venkatachalam Nandhidhaa is an Indian chess player from the state of Tamilnadu, who holds the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and Woman International Master (WIM). She is the 17th Woman Grandmaster of India. Her peak FIDE ELO rating is 2380 and she is holding 8 International Master norms as of April 2024. She is the reigning Nationals Women Chess Champion in 2024.
Vantika Agrawal is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster and International Master. She is a three-time gold medalist at the Chess Olympiad including two gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024 at Budapest. She won a silver medal with the Indian Team at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games. Agrawal's accolades also include medals in Commonwealth, World Youth, Asian Youth and National Championships.
Ramazan Zhalmakhanov is a Kazakhstani chess grandmaster. He was awarded the FIDE master title in 2017 and the international master title in 2021.
Koushik Girish is an Indian chess grandmaster from Karnataka. He won the World Youth Chess Championship under-10 in 2006. He has also been a medalist in the Asian Youth Chess Championships under 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. He became India's 63rd Grandmaster on 2019, at the age of 22.