Manuel Aaron

Manuel Aaron (born 30 December 1935) is the first Indian chess master in the second half of the 20th century. He dominated chess in India in the 1960s to the 1980s, was the national champion of India nine times between 1959 and 1981. He is India's first chess player to be awarded the FIDE Title of International Master, and is one of the key figures in introducing international chess practices to India; until the 1960s, Indian chess (known as chaturanga) was often played using many local traditional variants (e.g. in lieu of castling, the king could execute a knights move once, if it had not been checked). Aaron helped popularize the international variety, forming many chess groups and urging players to study openings and other formal chess literature.

Life Aaron was born in December 1935 in Toungoo, British Burma, to parents from Thoothukudi who had relocated to escape poverty. Saravanan noted Aaron's composure during matches, highlighting his ability to remain calm and unexpressive at the board even under severe time pressure. In 1962, he won the Arjuna Award for Indian sportsmen, the first-ever chess player to be so honoured.

These wins at the Asian level qualified him for the Stockholm Interzonal in 1962 and although finishing last (23rd place), he inflicted defeats on grandmasters Lajos Portisch and Wolfgang Uhlmann.

Aaron also played thrice with the Indian team at the Chess Olympiads. He captained the Indian team at Leipzig 1960 (+2 –10 =8) including a win over Max Euwe, and at Varna 1962 (+7 –6 =4), including another victory over Lajos Portisch. In 1964, he played at second board in Tel Aviv (+4 –7 =6). He also led India to the 2nd Asian Team Championship at Auckland in 1977 and to the 4th Asian Team championship at Hangzhou in China in 1981. He finished fourth in the Commonwealth Championship at Hong Kong 1984. The event was won by Kevin Spraggett and Murray Chandler.

He is the author of Dubai Olympiad 1986 and a journalist for newspaper. His son, Arvind, is also a well known journalist.

Contributions to Indian chess culture In 1972, Aaron founded the Tal Chess Club at the Soviet Cultural Centre in Chennai, utilizing chess books, clocks, and equipment sent directly from Moscow. He translated instructional chess literature from Russian, German, and French to train players at the club, which a seven-year-old Viswanathan Anand joined in 1976. Having emerged in an environment with a minimal chess culture, Aaron was very sensitive to the growth of chess awareness in India. He did much to further chess as the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Chess Association (1977 and 1997) and also as chairman of the All India Chess Federation. It was 17 years before India had its second International Master, V. Ravikumar (1978), and it had its first grandmaster (Viswanathan Anand) only in 1988.

At the time of the 2013 World Championship match in Chennai, Manuel Aaron was still active in Indian chess circles.

Notable games Manuel Aaron vs Max Euwe, Leipzig ol (Men) qual-B 1960, Indian Game: Capablanca Variation (A47), 1–0 Lajos Portisch vs Manuel Aaron, Varna 1962, King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line (E69), 0-1 Wolfgang Uhlmann vs Manuel Aaron, Stockholm izt 1962, King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line (E69), 0-1