Aaryan Varshney is an Indian chess grandmaster with one of the most unusual back-stories in the modern game: he learned chess at seven from his single father Gaurav, who remained his only trainer - no academies, no coaches, no books - all the way to the Grandmaster title.

In December 2025 he won the Bhilwara Rating Open with a perfect 9/9, one and a half points clear of the field, and in January 2026 he won the Andranik Margaryan Memorial, drawing with grandmaster Jegor Lashkin in the final round to become India's 92nd grandmaster.