Gave up IIT, slept on roads: How Rajasthan's 1st AGM put Udaipur on global chess map
Udaipur’s Chandrajeet Singh Rajawat turned a difficult childhood passion for chess into a successful career. He left home as a teenager, faced financial struggles, slept at railway stations and stadiums, and kept playing despite setbacks. His persistence eventually brought recognition, coaching opportunities and his own academy, Kingdom of Chess, which now operates across around 30 countries.
Udaipur, a city renowned for its lakes, palaces, and rich cultural heritage, has recently gained global attention for another reason altogether. Meet Chandrajeet Singh Rajawat, the city's first appointed All India Chess Federation (AICF) member and a renowned chess coach who has put Udaipur on the world map.
Rajawat's journey to this esteemed position was far from conventional. After giving up his dreams of studying at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), he took up chess as his new passion. Raised in a modest household, he left home at a young age to pursue his newfound love, living on the streets of New Delhi and enduring various hardships along the way.
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