Manuel Aaron

Manuel Aaron in 1962
Country	India
Born	(1935-12-30) 30 December 1935 (age 81) Toungoo, Myanmar
Title	International Master (1961)
FIDE rating	2315 [inactive]
Peak rating	2415 (January 1981)

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 player to be awarded the International Master title, 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.

Born in Toungoo (colonial Burma) of Indian parents, Aaron grew up in Tamil Nadu, India, where he did his schooling, finishing his B.Sc. from Allahabad University. Aaron was Indian National Champion nine times (out of 14 championships between 1959–1981), including a run of five consecutive titles between 1969 and 1973. He also won the Tamil Nadu Chess Championship eleven times (1957–1982); after him, Tamil Nadu emerged as the chess powerhouse of India.

He won the West Asian Zonal against Mongolia's Sukien Momo 3–1 (earning his International Master's rating), and the Asian-Australian Zonal final against Cecil Purdy of Australia 3–0 in 1961. 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 Interzonals, and in 1962, he played in the Stockholm interzonal and although finishing last (23rd place), his game was notable for the defeats he inflicted on grandmasters Lajos Portisch and Wolfgang Uhlmann, and his general aversion to draws.