Arjuna Awardees in Chess have got significant success in their career and have brought glory for their country. The Indian Chess players have earned a lot of recognition and reputation in the international arena and they have been honored in their country, as well. The first name in the list of Arjuna Awardees in Chess is of Manuel Aaron, who won the award in the very first year of its inception, in 1961. He won the award for his wonderful performances in several national and international Chess tournaments.

After Aaron, no Chess player could win the award for a long period of 19 years and Rohini Khadilkar became the second Arjuna Awardee in Chess in 1980-81. Grand Master Dibyendu Barua won the award in the year of 1983 and he was followed by Pravin Thipsay, who received the Arjuna Award in 1984.

The next year, in 1985, the legendary Indian Chess player, Viswanathan Anand enlisted his name among the Arjuna Awardees in Chess. He won the award at a young age and afterwards, he went on to become one of the most talented and undisputed World Champions in Chess. After the next year of 1986 went winner less for the Chess players, in 1987, two Chess players jointly won the Arjuna Award. The Arjuna Awardees in Chess in 1987 were Devaki Prasad and Bhagyashree Thipsay. The next Arjuna Award came to the Chess players in 1990, when Anupama Gokhale received it. However, the Chess players failed to win the award for another 10 years.

The famous Indian Chess player, Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi won the Arjuna Award in 2000. Krishnan Sasikiran claimed the award in the year of 2002 and the little wonder of Women Chess in India, Koneru Humpy received the award in 2003. Another top class Indian Chess player, Surya Shekhar Ganguly got his name into the list of Arjuna Awardees in Chess in the year 2005. The year 2007 saw the talented Chess player, P Harikrishna winning the award and the latest winner of Arjuna Award in 2008 was Harika Dronavalli.

Year	Recipient Name	Year	Recipient Name
1961	Manuel Aaron	2002	Krishnan Sasikiran
1980-81	Rohini Khadilkar	2003	Koneru Humpy
1983	Dibyendu Barua	2005	Surya Shekhar Ganguly
1984	Pravin Thipsay	2006	Pentyala Harikrishna
1985	Vishwanathan Anand	2008	Dronavalli Harika
1987	D. V. Prasad, Bhagyashree Thipsay	2009	Tania Sachdev
1990	Anupama Gokhale	2010	Parimarjan Negi
2000	Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi	-	-