Role Chess Player | Name Karen Asrian | |
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Full name Karen AsrianԿարեն Ասրյան Born 24 April 1980 ( 1980-04-24 ) FIDE rating Died June 9, 2008, Yerevan, Armenia | ||
KAREN ASRIAN
Karen Asrian (Armenian: Կարեն Ասրյան) (24 April 1980 – 9 June 2008) was an Armenian chess Grandmaster.
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Asrian started playing chess in 1985 and became a Grandmaster in 1997. He graduated from Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture in 2001.
He won the Armenian Chess Championship in 1999, 2007, and 2008, and the Dubai 2001 and 2004 Tigran Petrosian Memorial tournaments. In 2006, Asrian competed on third board for the gold-medal winning Armenian team at the Chess Olympiad in Turin.
On 9 June 2008 the Armenian Chess Federation reported that Asrian had died of a suspected heart attack while driving, which was confirmed the following day. His final rating, in April 2008, was 2630.
Judit Polgar's Top Games: Polgar vs Karen Asrian
Death
On 9 June 2008, the Armenian Chess Federation reported that Asrian had died of a heart attack while driving. Asrian, feeling ill, pulled his car into a courtyard in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on an early Monday and then lost consciousness. An ambulance crew pronounced him dead at the scene, possibly of a heart attack. A moment of silence was held in his memory before the opening of a speed-chess tournament in Yerevan on Monday, after his death was announced by Armenian chess player Smbat Lputian.
Asrian received an open casket funeral on June 11 in the Yerevan Chess House. President of Armenia and the Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan, Chairman of Parliament of Armenia Tigran Torosyan, participants of the GM tournament held in Yerevan, and thousands of chess lovers were present at the funeral service.
He was supposed to take part in the Iranian Chess Premier League, shortly before his death. Before the arbiters started the clocks in the first round on Thursday 12 June, there was a minute's silence in honour of Grandmaster Karen Asrian’s memory. Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, the leading chess player in Iran and fellow club teammate of Fajr-e-Shams-e-Atieh, gave a speech before the start of the tournament and sorrowfully announced the passing of his good friend Asrian and, on behalf of the Iranian Chess Community, expressed his sincere condolences to Karen’s family, friends and the entire World Chess Community.
Legacy
The Chess Giants Yerevan tournament was named such up until 2008. After the sudden and tragic death of Asrian on 9 June 2008, the same day the tournament began, the Armenian Chess Federation decided to interrupt the event for a few days, and then rename it to the Karen Asrian Memorial, which will be its name in the future. Compatriot Levon Aronian won that same first Karen Asrian Memorial on 15 June. Asrian and Aronian had both been on the 37th Chess Olympiad gold medal winning team.