Aarav Dengla Height, Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aarav Dengla

• When Aarav Dengla was five years old, he started playing chess. As a child, he also liked playing other sports, such as cricket, swimming, and taekwondo.

• His maternal grandfather, Bhavani Sharan Saxena, and maternal uncle, Ashish Saxena, are accomplished chess players.

• His maternal grandfather taught chess to Aarav’s mother, Shipra Dengla, and when Aarav turned five, Bhavani also taught the basic moves to Aarav.
  

  Aarav Dengla posing with his grandfather

• Once, during a media conversation, Aarav Dengla shared that he started playing chess when he was five years old. He said,
  

  I started learning chess when I was five. I played my first few day tournaments when I was six. Since then, I’ve always been in love with the game.”

  He added in the same conversation that he started playing chess as a hobby with his mother, who taught him the game in four weeks. He said,

  Initially, it started out as a hobby. My mom taught it to me, and within three-four weeks, I was playing in local tournaments. After a while, I began playing in FIDE tournaments, and that’s when I wanted to get a bit further into chess and become a grandmaster.”

• After a year, one of Aarav Dengla’s friends, who was nine years old, was going to a chess tournament.

• Aarav asked his mother if he could play the match. His mother did not think much of it and allowed him, as he was excited to join the tournament.

• He went to the tournament with his friend and won.
  

  An old picture of Aarav Dengla during a chess competition

• After that, his father, Manoj Dengla, approached veteran Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay as a chess coach for Aarav Dengla in Mumbai.

• Reportedly, he maintained a balance between his schoolwork and his chess tournaments.

• Aarav Dengla started at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, which follows the IB curriculum, and it requires 90 per cent attendance.

• This balance taught him discipline.

• Aarav Dengla finished the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and then the Middle Years Programme (MYP).

• He used to play chess during school vacations only.

  

  An old picture of Aarav Dengla during a chess competition in SantMarti, Barcelona

• His mother, Shipra Dengla, stated in an interview that Aarav gained 800 to 1800 rating points in four months. She said,
  

  When he (Aarav) was six and had just started playing rated tournaments, he gained almost 800 rating points, from 1000 to nearly 1800, in four months. That was huge. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

• When Aarav Dengla was in ninth grade, he was transferred to Phillips Academy Andover in the United States.

• In 2017, he started playing chess professionally.

• When he was seven years old, he gained 800 FIDE rating points in chess with only four months of practice.

• During the FIDE-rated open tournaments, he started playing with anyone regardless of age or experience.

• In 2022, Aarav Dengla participated in the Medjunarodni velemajstorski turnier, an International Grandmaster Tournament, and won his first Grandmaster norm.

• He scored 7 out of 9 points, and his performance rating during the tournament reached 2603.

• He gained 56 Elo points from the event and remained undefeated throughout.

• During this tournament, Aarav Dengla defeated GM Milan Vukic, GM Borko Lajthajm, and GM Zvonko Stanojoski.

• In 2024, he participated in the FIDE World Schools Rapid and Blitz, organised in Uzbekistan, and won a silver medal, finishing with 7.5 points in nine rounds.
  

  Aarav Dengla posing his medal at the FIDE World Schools Rapid and Blitz championships (2024)

• That same year, Aarav Dengla participated in the Cap d’Agde Chess Festival, the oldest and most renowned chess tournament in France, and won.
  

  Aarav Dengla after winning the Cap d’Agde Chess Festival (2024)

• In 2025, he participated as a third seed in the ‘Zupanja Celebrates Chess – 70 Years of Pride and Tradition.’ He finished the first round with 7 points, and his performance rating was 2615.

• Aarav Dengla stayed undefeated throughout the tournament. In the competition, he defeated GM Savic Miodrag R and GM Kovchan Alexander, and earned 57 Elo points.

• In 2025-26, he took his first gap year from Phillips Academy in the United States to focus only on chess.
  

  Aarav Dengla posing with chess player Magnus Carlsen

• After that, he started learning chess from coaches Vishnu Prasanna and Zaven Andriasian.

• According to his mother, Aarav Dengla started reading chess books at the age of six or seven.

• GM Vishnu Prasanna told him to read books from other sports too, which helped him in building a winning mindset.

  

  Aarav Dengla posing with Vishnu Prasanna

• Aarav Dengla once shared in the media that travel helped him in following his chess journey. His tours to Indian and foreign cities exposed him to new cultures.

• In 2026, he became the second Indian to earn the Grandmaster title after Aaryan Varshney and the 93rd Chess Grandmaster of India.

• He participated in the Mix Bijeljina championships, organised in Bosnia, and won the Grandmaster norm with 7 out of 9 points.

• During the championships, his performance rating was 2630, and he remained undefeated during the tournament. He beat GM Alija Muratovic, GM Miloje Ratkovic, and IM Milos Milosevic.

• Aarav Dengla drew with IM Milovan Ratkovic, GM Radoslav Dimitrov, and GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy.

• He then participated in the GM-norm Round Robin, organised in Herzegovina and won.

• In 2026, he participated in the Festival Saha Bijeljina (Chess Festival Bijeljina), where he earned first position.

• He scored 7 out of 9 and stayed undefeated.

• His performance rating was 2628, and he gained 17 Elo points.

• His conversations with other players taught him basic Spanish, French, Italian, and German.

  

  Aarav Dengla while playing chess

• Aarav Dengla is a fitness enthusiast and goes to the gym regularly for strength training. He runs for 45 minutes daily. He does two hours of exercise every day.

• According to him, fitness helps his mind to concentrate on chess.

• Apart from chess, he also does taekwondo and swimming regularly.