Raunak Sadhwani is the Indian grandmaster from Nagpur who became a GM at just 13 — one of the youngest players ever to earn the title at the time — and grew up into one of the most promising members of India’s astonishing golden generation of teenage stars. He was Nagpur’s very first grandmaster and India’s 65th, and he’s since climbed into the world’s top ranks with a mix of sharp, complicated chess and genuinely dangerous speed play.
Quick facts
- Full name: Raunak Sadhwani · Born: 22 December 2005, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
- Title: Grandmaster (earned at age 13)
- Peak rating: 2681 (July 2025), a career high that put him inside the world top 50
- Big results: 2023 World Junior Rapid Champion · 2022 Chess Olympiad open team bronze with India
- Style: a tactician who loves complications, backed by a solid classical streak — and a real speed-chess threat
Who is Raunak Sadhwani?
Born in Nagpur in 2005, Raunak came up far from India’s traditional chess hubs and turned his hometown into a chess address of its own. He began training seriously under a local coach in Nagpur before working with grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade, and his family famously rearranged their lives around his chess — the kind of all-in support story you hear behind so many young prodigies. The early results came thick and fast: youth medals at the Asian and World Youth Championships across the mid-2010s marked him as one to watch.
He earned the International Master title in 2018, and then the big one arrived. Raunak clinched his final grandmaster norm at the 2019 Isle of Man International, aged 13, becoming India’s 65th GM and Nagpur’s first — the title was confirmed by FIDE shortly after. At the time, that made him one of the ten youngest grandmasters in the history of the game.
What is Raunak’s playing style?
Raunak is, at heart, a fighter who likes to make things complicated. He has a strong tactical inclination and is happy to steer games into rich, double-edged middlegames where calculation decides everything. But he isn’t a one-note gambler — he also has a solid, classical streak, shown by his fondness for reliable structures with the black pieces. Add in his sharpness in faster time controls, and you get a player who is uncomfortable to face at any speed.
We dig into the details, with examples, in Raunak’s playing style.
What openings does Raunak Sadhwani play?
With the white pieces, Raunak is a 1.e4 player who leans on the Italian Game as a main weapon and is happy to enter the sharpest Open Sicilians when opponents invite a fight. He also has a taste for offbeat, understanding-based systems — he’s even produced coaching material on the quirky Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack (1.b3). As Black he tends toward the solid and sound: the Caro-Kann Defense and the rock-solid Berlin lines of the Ruy Lopez are regular guests.
See the full repertoire in Raunak’s openings.
Career highlights
- Mid-2010s: collects youth medals at the Asian and World Youth Chess Championships as one of India’s brightest juniors.
- 2018: earns the International Master title.
- 2019: clinches his final GM norm at the Isle of Man International, aged 13 — India’s 65th grandmaster and Nagpur’s first.
- 2022: wins team bronze in the open section with India at the 44th Chess Olympiad (Chennai).
- 2023: cracks 2650 and the world top 100 (October), and wins the FIDE World Junior Rapid Championship.
- 2025: reaches a classical peak of 2681 (July), climbing to a career-best world ranking inside the top 50.
More detail on the numbers lives in his rating history.
The best games
Raunak’s best games show off both sides of his chess — daring tactical fights and cool, solid technique — plus a few eye-catching scalps of elite opposition in fast chess. We’ve collected the standouts in Raunak Sadhwani’s best games.
Fun facts
- He is Nagpur’s first-ever grandmaster, putting his home city on India’s chess map.
- He was India’s 65th GM — and, at 13, one of the ten youngest players in history to earn the title at that time.
- He’s a serious speed-chess talent, with a World Junior Rapid title and upset wins over elite names in rapid and blitz.
- He’s part of the same wave of young Indian stars as Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi, and Nihal Sarin — all of whom grew up in the shadow of Viswanathan Anand.
FAQ
Who is Raunak Sadhwani? An Indian grandmaster, born in 2005 in Nagpur, who earned the GM title at 13 and is one of the rising stars of India’s young chess generation. He was Nagpur’s first grandmaster and India’s 65th.
How old was Raunak Sadhwani when he became a grandmaster? He was 13, clinching his final GM norm at the 2019 Isle of Man International — one of the youngest players in history to reach the title at the time.
What is Raunak Sadhwani’s highest rating? A classical FIDE peak of 2681, reached in July 2025.
Is Raunak Sadhwani good at speed chess? Yes — he won the 2023 FIDE World Junior Rapid Championship and has scored upset wins over elite players in rapid and blitz events.
What openings does Raunak Sadhwani play? As White, mainly 1.e4 with the Italian Game and sharp Open Sicilians, plus offbeat systems like 1.b3. As Black he favors solid choices like the Caro-Kann and the Ruy Lopez Berlin.
Keep exploring
Go deeper: his best games · his playing style · his opening repertoire · his rating history · fun facts & records · or browse all chess players.
Written and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Facts verified against Wikipedia, his FIDE profile, and Chess.com, as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-10 · How we verify content.