Sahaj Grover (born 1995) is a chess prodigy from Delhi, India. In July 2005, he won the Under-10 World Chess Championship held in Belfort, France, by drawing his game against Jekhongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan in the 11th and final round. In the previous round, Chiam Eng Yeap of Malaysia was defeated by Sahaj. He scored nine points out of possible 11 to overtake Ivan Bukashvin of Russia and emerged as winner.
With a rating of 1944, following his commendable show in the Rajiv Gandhi international rating round-robin tournament Sahaj arrived at the honour. The tournament was held at New Delhi in February. At that time, Sahaj was distinctively seven years and five months old. To gain a rating in the World, he is the youngest amongst ever. Chess prodigies usually are viewed as to be different than `normal` kids. These whiz kids as assumed are of serious nature, moody and prefer to keep to themselves. But Sahaj is in a delightful manner different. He shares his feeling though it may negative or positive with his brother Naman. Sahaj can sit engrossed in one place for seven to eight hours, on condition, with the understanding, if he is facing a chessboard.
Sahaj Grover-His journey started as a three-and-a-half year old into the record books when he watched his father, Vijay teaching Naman the early moves over a chessboard, a birthday present. Sahaj's interest in chess grew gradually, and his father Vijay did not miss it. Before his fifth birthday, within a year, Sahaj had won the third-prize in a local competition. K. C. Joshi, coach encouraged him and he played his first "serious" tournament, the Delhi State under-19 championship. K. C. Joshi has also trained Tania Sachdev early in her career. Sahaj was so small at that time that he was made to sit atop the table in order to reach the pieces on his opponents` back rank. After a win and two draws Sahaj's interest kept alive.
Sahaj started sharpening his skills soon, at the Botvinnik Chess Academy. Here under veteran C. S. Sharma and coach Karun Duggal he was immensely influenced. With his rare talent Sahaj played in an age group tournament back in the year 2002 in Sangli and stood seventh in a field of 100 participants.
Sahaj GroverHis silver medal-winning performances in the British championship made Sahaj's confidence grow by many folds. The championship was held under 8 and under10 sections in Torquay in 2002. The competition is not of any great standards in the championship, it is just right to promote kids in the age group. Sahaj has not looked back since then. Sahaj was the youngest competitor in the British championship as he was then just five.
Sahaj plays in an aggressive manner like most children in his age group. Subsequently, former National junior champion Gurpreet Pal Singh took over the mantle. He has also participated at the National `B` championship held at Jalandhar. Sahaj had some very dependable wins in the second half of the elusive tournament, over his more-experienced rivals. However, it was a great learning experience for the youngster. The organisers decided to give Sahaj a prize. FIDE rating of his as of April 2007 is 2187.
His FIDE Elo rating as of July 2011[update] is 2496.