Aarini Lahoty Age, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Student
Known for	Becoming India's and the world's youngest female player in August 2025. She earned FIDE ratings across all three chess formats - classical, rapid, and blitz.
Physical Stats
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	19 September 2019 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2025)	6 Years
Birthplace	Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, India
Zodiac sign	Virgo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	New Delhi, India
School	Bluebells International School, New Delhi
Family
Parents	Father- Surendar Lahoty
Siblings	Brother- 1

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aarini Lahoty

• Aarini Lahoty started playing chess when she was one year old.
  

  A year-old Aarini Lahoty while learning chess on screen

• Her father, Surendar Lahoty, a chess player and coach, used to teach online chess during the COVID-19 lockdown. During this time, she started setting up a chessboard and learnt moving the pieces herself.
  

  An old picture of Aarini Lahoty while setting up a chessboard

• When she was two years old, she liked watching Magnus Carlsen play online.

• Aarini Lahoty enjoys playing with the white chess pieces.
  

  An old picture of Aarini Lahoty while playing chess

• Once, during a media conversation, she was asked which side of chess she wanted to play and why. She replied,
  

  White… because I get to make the first move.”

• Her favourite subject is Environmental Science (EVS).

• She is a part of the Indus Global Sports Foundation (IGSF ) Chess Academy.

• She likes studying and playing chess equally.

• In August 2025, she became the first 2019-born chess player from India to earn these ratings. The news was posted by the International Chess Federation on Twitter on 8 August 2025.
  

  A Twitter post by the International Chess Federation about Aarini Lahoty and her chess achievements in August 2025

• As of 11 August 2025, Aarini Lahoty holds the chess ratings of 1553 in classical, 1550 in rapid, and 1498 in blitz.

• She then became the highest-rated player in her age group in India, among both boys and girls (born after 2019).

• After the FIDE released its ratings, her father, Surendar Lahoty, shared in a media interview that he trained Aarini for chess at home. He said,
  

  We prepared her at home itself. We made her play tournaments in all formats, tried to get her used to the same time patterns, and only then sent her for official tournaments. Now her ratings have been published, we are very happy.”

  He added in the same conversation that Aarini Lahoty kept practising at home, as per the time control format of chess championships. He said,

  In Rapid, the format was 15+10, and in Blitz, it was 3+2. At home, we kept practising with the same time controls to prepare her for tournaments. And even at this minute, if I ask her to play a tournament, she’s ready to go with me.”

  

  Aarini Lahoty (first in first row) with her father, Surendar, at his chess academy in New Delhi

• In August 2025, Aarini Lahoty participated in a local tournament and won in the Under-7 category, and finished second in the Under-16 category.
  

  Aarini Lahoty during a chess championship

• She often enjoys watching Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh playing chess on television.

• Apart from playing chess, Aarini Lahoty likes swimming in her free time.

• Once, during a media conversation, her father, Surendar Lahoty, narrated Aarini’s after-school routine. He said that the family preferred no unhealthy pressure on children. He said,
  

  After school, she rests for an hour-and-a- half, then plays outside. Her mother takes care of her studies, I focus on her chess. She loves puzzles so much she often sends me photos saying, ‘Please answer this right now’ if she’s stuck.”

  

  Aarini Lahoty while learning chess from her father at home