Raunak Sadhwani has packed an impressive number of milestones, records, and hometown-pride stories into a career that’s still just getting going. Here’s a collection of the best — every one checked against reliable sources, with the volatile “current” numbers left out in favor of stable, dated facts.
The essentials
- Full name: Raunak Sadhwani.
- Born: 22 December 2005, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
- Title: Grandmaster (GM), earned at age 13 (final norm in 2019).
- Peak classical rating: 2681 (July 2025) — a peak world ranking around No. 44.
- Speed-chess honor: 2023 FIDE World Junior Rapid Champion.
The record-breaking milestones
- Nagpur’s first-ever grandmaster: Raunak put his home city on India’s chess map, becoming the first GM to hail from Nagpur.
- India’s 65th grandmaster: he joined the country’s most exclusive chess club in 2019.
- Grandmaster at 13: he clinched his final GM norm at the 2019 Isle of Man International, aged just 13 — placing him among the ten youngest players in history to earn the title at the time.
- International Master at 12–13: he earned the IM title in 2018, a stepping stone on the way to the GM norm chase.
A hometown and family story
Raunak’s rise is very much a family and hometown tale. He grew up in Nagpur, far from India’s traditional chess capitals, and his family reorganized their lives around his chess — the kind of all-in parental support that sits behind so many prodigies. He began training seriously with a local coach in Nagpur before working under grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade, and turned his city into a genuine chess address in the process.
The speed-chess specialist
- World Junior Rapid Champion (2023): he won the Open title with 8.5/11, outscoring the best juniors on the planet.
- World Junior Blitz runner-up (2023): he added a second-place finish in the same event’s blitz section.
- Elite upsets: he has beaten top players — including Alireza Firouzja, one of the world’s best speed-chess players — in rapid and blitz.
Fast chess is where Raunak’s complications-loving instincts shine brightest, and his results in rapid and blitz are a big part of his reputation as a dangerous opponent at any time control.
Team and tournament honors
- 2022 Chess Olympiad (44th): won a team bronze in the open section with India’s second team, on home soil in Chennai.
- World Rapid & Blitz Championships: has posted strong finishes at elite fast-play events, mixing it with the very top of the game.
- Franchise & team chess: has featured in top-level team competition alongside the world’s best, part of the modern globe-trotting chess circuit.
Part of India’s golden generation
Raunak isn’t a lone wonder — he’s one of a remarkable wave of young Indian talent that also includes Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi, and Nihal Sarin. All of them grew up in the shadow of India’s original chess superstar, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, whose success and mentorship helped turn India into a genuine chess superpower. Raunak is one more proof point that the talent pipeline runs deep — and well beyond the big metros.
A repertoire with personality
One fun quirk of Raunak’s chess is his taste for the offbeat. Alongside mainstream weapons like the Italian Game and the sharp Open Sicilian, he’s dabbled in the flank system 1.b3 (the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack) — even producing coaching material on it. It’s a small window into how he thinks: he’s happy to leave the beaten path and play “just chess,” trusting his understanding over memorized theory.
Career timeline at a glance
A quick, dated rundown of the milestones above, in order:
- 2005: born in Nagpur, India (22 December).
- Mid-2010s: collects youth medals at the Asian and World Youth Chess Championships.
- 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: crosses 2650 and the world top 100 (October); wins the FIDE World Junior Rapid Championship.
- 2025: peaks at 2681 (July), reaching a career-best world ranking around No. 44.
It’s a strong list for a player still in his early twenties, and the story is very much unfinished. For the numbers behind it, see his rating history.
FAQ
Where is Raunak Sadhwani from? He’s from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, and is notably the city’s first-ever grandmaster.
What records does Raunak Sadhwani hold? Among others, he became a grandmaster at 13 — one of the ten youngest in history at the time — and was India’s 65th GM and Nagpur’s first. He’s also a World Junior Rapid Champion.
Who is Raunak Sadhwani’s coach? He trained early with a local coach in Nagpur and later worked with grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade.
Has Raunak Sadhwani won a World Championship? No. His biggest title so far is the 2023 FIDE World Junior Rapid Championship, and he won team bronze with India at the 2022 Olympiad.
Is Raunak Sadhwani part of India’s young chess generation? Yes — he’s one of the rising stars alongside Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi, and Nihal Sarin, all inspired by Viswanathan Anand.
Keep exploring
Back to the Raunak Sadhwani profile · his best games · his rating history · his playing style · 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.