Aarav Dengla becomes India’s 93rd Chess Grandmaster
Aarav Dengla became the 93rd Indian to earn the title of chess Grandmaster after completing all formalities for the coveted title on Saturday.
He won his third and final GM norm and crossed the 2500 barrier—his classical live rating touched 2506—fulfilling all the criteria for the Grandmaster title.
He achieved the feat after winning the GM Mix Bijeljina and GM-norm Round Robin Tournament consecutively in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The 17-year-old from Mumbai had won his first GM norm at the 1st International Grandmaster Tournament Bijeljina back in 2022, while his second GM norm came at Zupanja Celebrates Chess GM-norm Round Robin in Croatia in 2025.
Some of his other notable achievements include winning the Grand Paris Masters Championship in 2024, the FIDE World Schools Rapid and Blitz in the same year, among others.
Dengla is the second Indian to attain the GM title in 2026, after Aaryan Varshney did so in January.
Published on Mar 01, 2026