Chess: Aarav Dengla becomes India's 93rd grandmaster

Aarav Dengla, a 17-year-old from Mumbai, earned the distinction of being India's 93rd chess grandmaster on Saturday.

He achieved the feat by crossing the 2500-rating barrier in LIVE ratings. He won his third and final GM norm by winning two consecutive tournaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dengla is the second Indian to earn the grandmaster title in 2026. Aaryan Varshney had achieved the feat last month.

Dengla had also won a gold medal at the FIDE World Schools Rapid and Blitz in 2024.

Dengla, who started playing chess at the age of five, had won his first GM norm in 2022 before earning his second norm in 2025, as per The Indian Express.