IM Harshit Raja secures admission in the University of Missouri
Towards the end of 2019 IM Harshit Raja from Pune shot into prominence after scoring two back to back GM norms in Spain. The first one was at the Elllobregat Open and the next one was at the Sunway Sitges 2019. En route to this achievement he beat several strong GMs like Karthikeyan Murali, Gukesh, Parham Maghsoodloo among others! So what's up with this 19-year-old youngster in 2020? What is Harshit Raja doing? Turns out that while all of the over the board tournaments have been cancelled due to Covid-19 situation, Harshit has managed to keep progressing - this time on the academic front.
IM Harshit Raja on balancing a chess career and educaton
While the chess world has come to a standstill with regards to over-the-board FIDE Rated events, there are a few players who are making sure that they make the best use of the time on hand. One of them is IM Harshit Raja. The 19-year-old from Pune currently has two GM norms and a FIDE elo of 2482. He is just a few Elo points and a GM norm away from the coveted GM title. So how is Harshit spending his time in the lockdown? Well, he is busy studying hard right now. No, not chess, but taking care of his educational qualification. Harshit has managed to secure admission in the well-known University of Mizzou based on his competitive exam scores and also his chess exploits!
How did Harshit decide that he wanted to pursue his education in the US by choosing the University of Missouri? Speaking to ChessBase India, the youngster said, "I believe that striking a balance between academic life and sports is indispensable. I also know that at some point of time, I will be responsible for earning a living, which in the case of chess is somewhat tough, unless you are at the very top. Thus, I had decided early on in my academic life that I would like to have a good education apart from chess which would empower me and enhance my imagination over life. The USA has a flexible criterion of choosing academic majors which I think is crucial for students who want to strike a balance between academics and niche areas of their interest. in my case chess."
Harshit further adds, "After my high school, I had taken a year to complete my grandmaster title and also decide where I would go to pursue my undergraduate studies. During this time, I managed to bag two grandmaster norms and a peak live rating of 2486. However, the former could not be completed due to the world-wide COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, I was also contacting universities to inquire about their Chess Teams and how they balance sports and education. After serious consideration, I decided Mizzou as my first choice since it not only boasts an amazing academic culture, but also the brand new chess team with GM Oparin G, GM Gordievsky, GM Repka C and WGM Tokhirjonova under the guidance of the strong and experienced trainer GM Cristian. It seemed like a great opportunity for me to develop my game and also maintain a healthy academic standing. I am absolutely excited to join Mizzou’s chess team and resume playing quality chess."
What is Harshit going to study in the USA? "I am enrolled in the Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri aka Mizzou. The broader area of my study is Business and I will be choosing my majors in the sophomore year. It has been over a month since the first day of classes and I am very happy to be learning something new everyday!"
Harshit was supposed to go to the USA earlier this year. However, the Covid-19 situation has stalled his plans of travel. "I was supposed to attend classes on campus from the Fall of 2020, but due to the fluid situation arisen because of the Covid-19 I am taking classes online. Cristian, the Head Coach of our team, is super supportive and accommodative. He made the onboarding process seamless, even though we were co-ordinating virtually. Special thanks to the Chess Team who have been very friendly and always shown readiness to help. I am hoping to be on Campus from Spring 2021!"
We, at ChessBase India, wish Harshit the best in his journey of education in the USA and at the same time hope that he achieves his GM title soon!
Two of Harshit's best games with annotations:
Previous coverage on ChessBase India
With two back to back GM norms, Harshit Raja is racing towards the GM title
Other links:
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Breaking News: India gets its 69th GM - Harshit Raja
@ 04/08/2021 by Sagar Shah (en) |