The history of chess originates from about the fourth or third centuries BC. As one of the ancient legends tells, this game was invented by a certain Brahmin. It is not known whether this is so, but India is considered to be the birthplace of chess.
general information
Today this game is incredibly popular in many countries, including in small Armenia. Moreover, since 2012, chess has been a compulsory school subject in this country: it runs from the second to fourth grade. According to the famous academician Joseph Orbeli, chess appeared in the small mountainous Armenia in the ninth century. They are mentioned in ancient manuscripts, which can still be seen in Yerevan at the Institute of Ancient Writings.
Few people know that Tigran is considered one of the most common male names among Armenians. The fact is that this was the name of the first Soviet world chess champion. It was Tigran Petrosyan in 1963-1969. won such a high title. This Armenian caused a chess fever in his homeland, which, I must say, not only did not pass, but also grew to an incredible scale. The chess organization in Armenia has many grandmasters and international masters in its ranks. These are R. Vaganyan and S. Lputian, G. Kasparov and others. In this list, Levon Aronian, a chess player who in recent years has gained incredible popularity in his historical homeland, takes his deserved place. Even children recognize him. It was he who in 2017 won the World Chess Cup in Tbilisi.
Levon Aronian is the sixth grandmaster on the planet, who managed to overcome the mark of two thousand eight hundred points of the FIDE rating list. Before him on the list are such eminent chess players as Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Topalov and Carlsen.
Levon Aronian - biography
He, characterized by enviable stability at the board, is considered one of the most striking grandmasters. In addition, Levon Aronian is a chess player with his own unique style of play. Today he is in the cohort of the elect with a current rating of 2792. Aronian was born Levon on October 6, 1982 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. His mother is Armenian and his father is Jewish. At the age of five, the boy learned to play chess. The first mentor was Lilith's older sister. They say that the boy often brought her, so Lilith, to calm the naughty younger brother, put him in front of the board. It was with his sister that the current world champion Aronian began to play chess. Levon soon began to attend a circle at the Palace of Pioneers in Yerevan. His first coach was Lyudmila Finareva. It was she who taught the basics of the child prodigy.
Since then, Levon has changed a lot, became more organized. The first, very serious success for a talented boy came at eleven. It was at this age that Aronian Levon won the children's world chess championship in the category of under twelve years. His rivals were already venerable R. Ponomarev and A. Grischuk.
Parents actively developed their son's chess talent. They actively acquired for him a huge number of specialized books, which the future grandmaster Aronian worked diligently. Levon in his memoirs says that he was then incredibly struck by the parties of A. Alekhine and Larsen's finds. Moreover, at one time he even tried to imitate this Danish chess player.
One of the most important events that determined career development, in his opinion, is the Junior World Cup. Levon Aronian then won a landslide victory in Goa. It was during that period that a strong desire came to him to always be the first and the awareness of self-confidence. According to Aronian, he fully felt his chess talent only at the age of sixteen.
Life in Germany
At the age of nineteen, the Junior World Champion left for Europe and there he tried to rise to a new level in his game. The fact is that then his homeland was going through hard times, so there were no special conditions for the development of chess in the country. In Germany, Aronian Levon begins to play in team tournaments, while working on his own shortcomings. One of them he called his very mediocre debuts. I overcame this problem by getting acquainted with the finds of many leading players. Thanks to painstaking work on himself, in 2005 Levon Grigorievich Aronian entered the top five of the best chess players in the world. He had an excellent rating of 2850 units.
About Mentors
Many specialists have been involved in the process of the development of such a chess genius as Levon Aronian. However, the grandmaster himself singles out only two. At one time, the youngest pupil was the first to discern the talent for combinatorics Melikset Khachiyan. He began to actively develop it, constantly loading Levon with special exercises. It was this coach who instilled in Aronian a love of blitz. Under the leadership of Khachiyan, the young chess genius has come a long way from a third-level player to the title of international master.
Much later, life brought Levon Aronian with Arshak Petrosyan. And although the cooperation was very short-lived, the new mentor was able to reveal the depth of the game of chess from a completely different side, unknown to the future champion. This allowed Levon to understand not only his strengths, but also his weaknesses.
Achievements
Aronian won a lot of remarkable victories. Levon back in 2005, along with H. Nikamaru and B. Avruh, was the best in open tournament in Gibraltar. A few months later, at the European Championships in Poland, he took third place. In December of the same year, the Armenian grandmaster won the World Cup held by knockout system in Khanty-Mansiysk. Levon Aronian won three times at the World Chess Olympiad, playing in the Armenian team in 2006, 2008 and 2012. In 2011, he won the world championship. Aronian repeatedly took first place in prestigious super tournaments: four times in Wijk aan Zee, in Linares in 2006, twice at the Tal Memorial and in 2013 at the Alekhine Memorial. The Armenian chess player has achieved quite serious titles. He twice became the strongest in Fisher's chess, won the world championship in blitz.
Talented “Sloth”
Many experts who know Levon well say that the Armenian grandmaster is distinguished by a special manner of playing. At first glance, a light laid-back style often turns into a defeat for an opponent, from which he cannot recover for a long time. Few people know that such a mastery is a long hard work. According to the chess player himself, the most important condition for success is the ability to quickly navigate even in standard positions. This is what gives Aronian self-confidence. He is able to amaze even experienced chess players with incredibly sparkling improvisation, provoke an opponent to make a mistake, and then win.
Wedding
In October 2017, another chess family was born: Ariana Kaoli and Levon Aronian married. The wife of the Armenian grandmaster is from the Philippines. She is also a chess player and represents Australia. With Levon Kaoli for a long time in close relations. The wedding ceremony was held in the ancient monastery of Saghmosavank. The president of Armenia S. Sargsyan himself acted as the father of the groom. Later, the celebration continued in one of the best restaurants in Yerevan. The media literally replete with the fact that one of the best sons of Armenia, Levon Aronian, was finally married. The grandmaster’s wife made him an original wedding present - a bride’s dance to the tune of an old Armenian song.
