Harshit Raja

Harshit Raja, born in Pune in 2001,
is an Indian chess grandmaster, commentator and author.
He earned the International Master title in 2017.
In August 2021, Raja secured his final grandmaster norm at the Biel Masters Open with one round to spare,
becoming India’s 69th grandmaster.
He reached his peak rating of 2522 in August 2023.
Alongside his tournament career, Raja has made a name for himself as a commentator for ChessBase India,
combining grandmaster-level expertise with clear and accessible explanations of strategic concepts.
In 2026, he produced the ChessBase training course A Powerful 1.e4 Repertoire.
Most recently, Raja scored 4½ points from nine games at the 2026 Saint Louis Masters,
achieving a tournament performance rating of over 2600.