Vandan Alankar Sawai

Vandan Alankar Sawai, a 15-year-old Indian Candidate Master, is rated 2163 and sitting in the top 1% of Indian players under 16, and in the top 5% worldwide. He is rising rapidly, having gained +208 Elo over the past 12 months. 100 rated games in the past year (≈98/year long-term). Recent standard appearances include National Under-17 Chess Championship 2025-26, ODISHA OPEN (THE 16TH INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTERS CHESS FESTIVAL 2025-26 Category 'A' 1900 & Above), and 16 th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2025 for Sakthi Group Dr.N.Mahalingam Trophy. Also played 4 rapid (including SHRI P . R D U T T A MEMORIAL OPEN INTERNATIONAL FIDE RATED RAPID CHESS TOURNAMENT 2026) and 5 blitz events (including 31st AbuDhabi International Chess Festival-Blitz - Open) recently. His peak of 2243 was reached at age 14 (Feb 2025).

Awarded CM in 2025 (age 14). At junior level, he reached World #49 in U14 and #39, #19, #13 and #33 nationally in U16, U12, U10 and U8.