Manuel Aaron is an International Master in Chess and was born on December 30, 1935 in Toungoo, Burma (India).
Full name: Manuel Aaron
Title: International Master – Achieved in 1961
Place of birth: Toungoo, Myanmar
Born: December 30, 1935
Federation: India
Ratings
World ranking: 7227
Rapid: N/A
Blitz: N/A
Classical: 2315
Peak rating: 2415
Profiles
Most Frequently Played openings
With The White Pieces
- Modern Defense
- Averbakh System
- Robatsch
With The Black Pieces
- Samisch Variation
- Austrian Attack
- Queen’s Gambit Accepted
Biography
Manuel Aaron is an Indian chess player born on December 30, 1935 in Toungoo, Myanmar. As of January 1981, Aaron’s Peak rating was 2415 while his FIDE rating was 2315 though inactive. Aaron is a journalist for The Hindu newspaper and the author of the Dubai Olympiad 1986. Arvin, his son, is another well-known journalist.
The Beginning
Aaron attended school and spent his upbringing in Tamil Nadu, India. Later, he completed his Bachelor of Science degree from Allahabad University. Aaron won nine Indian National Championships of 14 victories between 1959 and 1981, including five in a row from 1969 to 1973. In addition, from 1957 to 1982, Aaron won the Tamil Nadu Chess Championship eleven times; as a result, Tamil Nadu became India’s chess superpower after him. In 1961, Aaron defeated Cecil Purdy of Australia 3-0 in the Asian-Australian Zonal penultimate after defeating Sukien Momo of Mongolia 3-1 in the West Asian Zonal. This victory earned him the title of International Master.
Aaron was the inaugural chess player to get this honor when, in 1962, he earned the Arjuna Award for Indian athletes. Aaron was eligible for the Interzonal thanks to these victories at the Asian level, and in 1962, Aaron competed in the Stockholm Interzonal. Despite coming last in 23rd place, his game was noteworthy for the losses he handed to grandmasters Lajos Portisch and Wolfgang Uhlmann. Aaron participated in Tel Aviv’s second board game in 1964 (+4 -7 =6). At Auckland in 1977 and Hangchow in China in 1981
Notable Achievements
Aaron participated three times with the Indian chess Olympiad squad.
Aaron led the Indian team in victories over Max Euwe and Lajos Portisch at Leipzig in 1960 (+2 -10 =8) and Varna in 1962 (+7 -6 =4), respectively.
Aaron also led India to the second and fourth Asian Team Championships, respectively.
From 1960 to 1980 he dominated chess in India. First International Chess Master from India, and key figures who took part in International chess completion from India and Introduces international chess practices to India.
Prior to 1960’s, Chess was just another local game (locally Chess known as chaturang or shatranj). Aaron contributed a lot in popularizing Chess in India.
Notable Games
Manuel Aaron vs Max Euwe – Leipzig Olympiad qual-2, Round 1 – Leipzig, Germany – October 17, 1960
Florencio Campomanes vs Manuel Aaron – Leipzig Olympiad qual-2, Round 3 – Leipzig, Germany – October 19 1960
Manuel Aaron vs John Eric Littlewood – Hastings, Round 3 – Hastings, England – December 29, 1961
Did you enjoy reading about Manuel Aaron? If you did, you might also be interested in reading about other players such as Levy Rozman and Magnus Carlsen.
Sources