• What? India’s 92nd Chess GM
• Who? Aaryan Varshney
• Where? 16th Andranik Margaryan Memorial title (in Armenia)
• Against: FM Tyhran Ambartsumian (Armenia)
• Milestone: 8th Grandmaster from Delhi
• Previous Titles: FM (2018), IM (2024)

Achievement at Andranik Margaryan Memorial:
Draw in 8th Round: Aaryan drew against FIDE Master (FM) Tyhran Ambartsumian (Armenia) in the 8th round of the tournament to secure his 3rd and the final GM norm with 6.5 points out of 8 points.
Delhi’s 8th Grandmaster: With this, Aaryan became the 8th chess player from Delhi to secure the GM title, after Parimarjan Negi, Abhijeet Gupta, Sriram Jha, Vaibhav Suri, Sahaj Grover, Aryan Chopra, and Prithu Gupta.
About GM Title
Awarded by: The GM title is awarded by Federation Internationale des Eches/International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Key Conditions: GM is the highest and most prestigious title in chess that requires a minimum FIDE rating of 2500 and three GM norms.
About Aaryan Varshney:
Early Career: He started playing chess at the age of 8 with his coach and father, Gaurav Varshney. He played his career’s 1st rated tournament in December 2014, securing an Elo rating of 1261.
National Career: In July 2018, he won the National Under-13 Championship title held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Key Accomplishments: In 2018 he won the title of FM and later, the International Masters (IM) title in 2024 with a live rating of 2,395.
GM Norms: In August 2025, Varshney secured his maiden GM norm at the 34th Vasilis Theodoridis Open in Kavala, Greece.

• Later in December 2025, he scored 9 out of 9 to win the 3rd Leonine GM title held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, securing the 2nd GM.

About Federation Internationale des Eches/International Chess Federation (FIDE):
President- Arkady Dvorkovich
Headquarters- Lausanne, Switzerland
Established- 1924