GM Nihal Sarin
Bio
GM Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess prodigy who became a grandmaster at the age of 14. He won several youth championships on his way, including the the U-10 World Blitz Championship in 2013 and the U-10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2014, where he scored 9/11. He was also the world under-18 champion, held online in 2020, and the 2026 Bullet Chess Champion.
The player's full name is Nihal Sarin and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their first name, Nihal.
Two-Time Champion
In 2020, Nihal had impressive results. In addition to the U-18 World Youth Championship, he won Chess.com's Junior Speed Chess Championship and the gold medal as part of the Indian team in the FIDE Chess Olympics held online.
Nihal, along with GMs Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, and Arjun Erigaisi, is one of several young Indian stars who began making noise in the international scene around 2022. Of the four, Nihal has had the most success in Chess.com events, being a two-time Junior Speed Chess Champion (2020, 2021) and a finalist in the 2022 Chess.com Global Championship (CGC). He defeated GM Alexey Sarana in the final of the 2020 JSCC and GM Raunak Sadhwani, another young Indian superstar, in the 2021 final.
Chess.com Global Championship
Nihal's path through the CGC included two world champions (past and future) and two more members of the 2700 rating club: GMs Rauf Mamedov, Vladimir Kramnik, Ding Liren, Sam Sevian, and Anish Giri. Only GM Wesley So could stop Nihal, which happened in the final. Nihal earned $100,000 as the event runner-up.
Nihal was also a bronze medalist at the 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad, scoring 7.5/10 in his individual games for a performance rating of 2774. He played the second board for India's second team, which actually outperformed their fourth-place lead team. (India hosted the event and thus was granted three teams.) The year 2022 also brought him a victory at the Tata Steel India Rapid tournament, although his two-year streak as JSCC champion was ended in the final by Arjun.
2023 and Beyond
By the end of 2023, Nihal held a FIDE rating of 2692, good for 44th in the world. In November 2025, he reached a 2700 FIDE rating for the first time. In June 2026, he reached a classical rating of 2723 and also defeated and dethroned reigning champion GM Alireza Firouzja in the Bullet Chess Championship, at one point winning 15 consecutive games.
