Aarav Dengla, a 17-year-old from Mumbai, became India's 93rd chess Grandmaster and the city's third on February 28, 2026, by winning the GM Mix Bijeljina tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina, securing his third GM norm and a live classical rating of 2506. The second Indian GM of 2026 after Aaryan Varshney, his success highlights family support, dedicated coaching, and balance with academics.
Mumbai's Aarav Dengla fulfilled the Grandmaster criteria with strong performances at two consecutive tournaments in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina: the GM Mix Bijeljina 2026 (7/9, performance rating 2630, undefeated with wins over GMs Alija Muratovic and Miloje Ratkovic) and the GM i IM Round Robin 'Festival Saha Bijeljina 2026' (7/9, 2628 performance). This was his third GM norm, following his first at the 2022 Medjunarodni velemajstorski turnir in Bijeljina (7/9, 2603 performance) and second at the 2025 Zupanja Celebrates Chess tournament in Croatia (7/9, 2615 performance).
Dengla learned chess from his mother Shipra at age five and began competing in multi-day tournaments at six. "I started learning chess when I was five... Since then, I have always been in love with the game. Initially, it started as a hobby," he told Chess.com in 2022. He trained early under India's third Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, winning tournaments even then, and made periodic trips to Chennai for sessions with Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna—a 'turning point' per his mother, who credited Prasanna's holistic approach. At Prasanna's school, Aarav bonded with World champion D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi. He also worked with Zaven Andriasian. A student at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, he took a gap year from Philips Academy in the US during 2025-26 to focus on chess.
His father, Manoj Dengla, a chartered accountant rank holder and Harvard Business School alumnus, inspires him. Shipra emphasized academics-chess balance: "I just wish that more people are able to take the chance, give more time to their children... and be there for them." Earlier triumphs include a perfect 7/7 at the 2024 Grand Paris Masters Championship and gold at the FIDE World Schools Rapid and Blitz Championship (7.5/9).
Dengla joins Mumbai GMs Praveen Thipsay and Aditya Mittal. India, with its first GM Viswanathan Anand in 1988, now has four female GMs: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R. Vaishali, and Divya Deshmukh. His achievement underscores India's chess rise and the role of family and coaching in nurturing talent.
