Raven Sturt is an American chess Grandmaster from New York City. He earned the International Master (IM) title in 2018 and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 2015. Despite these achievements, Sturt is not a full-time professional chess player; he works as a part-time coach and writer in addition to his chess career.
He was born on 7 September 1992 in New York and started playing chess at a very young age. His first significant breakthrough came in 2008, when he won the New York State High School Chess Championship. He continued his success with multiple national and international titles, including the Pan American Youth Championship, North American Junior Championship, and the U.S. Junior Championship.
In 2013, Sturt took a step away from competitive chess to focus on his studies at the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a degree in philosophy. However, he continued his involvement in chess as a coach, training young players and writing articles for prominent chess websites.
He made his return to competitive chess in 2014 where he won the U.S. Open Championship, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious title. He followed up with a victory at the Sinquefield Cup in 2015, thus earning his Grandmaster title.
Sturt is known for his aggressive and tactical style of play. He prefers to use the Sicilian Defence and Ruy Lopez as his main openings when playing with black, while employing the English Opening and Queen's Gambit when playing with white.
In 2017, once again, he stepped back from competitive chess to focus on his studies at Harvard University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy.