The Inspirational Life of Levon Aronian

“If chess is art, his creativity creates a stunning canvas.  If chess is science, his original ideas and intuitive play question many hypotheses.  And if chess is a sport, his fighting spirit and passion over the board brings the adrenaline.” – IM Tania Sachdev

Levon Aronian, born in Yerevan, Armenia on October 6, 1982, has gone through many different stages of his life, from grand successes to hardships that the majority of people have never experienced.  Through it all, however, Levon has remained with a hard-working, passionate, positive spirit that we can all take in our own lives.  Plus, he’s not a bad chess player as well.  Today, I’ll give a brief summary of the life of super-GM Levon Aronian, and will discuss one of his most beautiful games.  If you enjoy the chess player spotlights, please let me know by leaving a comment!

Opening

Levon was born in Armenia, a developing country in Eastern Europe/Western Asia (if any Armenians are out there, please leave a comment and say hi), to an Armenian mining engineer and a Jewish physicist.  Levon learned from both his sister and GM Melikset Khachiyan.  However, although Levon was definitely a chess prodigy, his legacy is not as well known as others, such as Magnus Carlsen, as Levon achieved the GM title at the age of 17 after victories such as the 1994 under-12 World Championship.  Despite being a “late bloomer,” Levon would surpass all expectations to become one of the greatest chess players in the world.

Middlegame

In 2005, after winning the Armenian Chess Championship and the World Junior Championship, Aronian became one of the chess elite, a rank where he still remains till this day and deserves more credit for doing so.  In mid-2006, Aronian was rated by FIDE as the third highest rated player in the world.  Qualifying for the Candidates’ Tournament in 2007, Aronian beat some guy from Norway in a blitz tiebreaker.  Through doing so, he was hailed as somewhat of a celebrity and certainly a hero in his home country in Armenia, as he led them to its first ever Chess Olympiad victory.  Levon’s true nature to his home country has been shown many times over the years, most notably when he founded a chess school in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2012 where young people (those who look up to him) can study. 

Game vs Magnus

Throughout Levon’s many successes, however, including the 2800 FIDE club, St. Louis Blitz and Rapid championships, and other amazing victories, there have been failures as well.  See, unlike many articles point you to believe, no chess player (or everyday person, for that matter) goes through life without hardships and downfalls.  Levon is no exception:  He has had his chess failures, such as the last place finish in the 2018 Candidates’.  He has also gone through many trials and tribulations in his personal life as well, as he announced this past May that his wife, Arianne Caoili, died at the age of 33.  Although heartbroken by this development, Aronian remains positive and is definitely a respectable man in the chess community.  Through all of the forums, websites, and articles I’ve read, it seems as if no one has anything harsh to say about Levon.  Levon’s story is an incredible one that should garner more attention throughout the chess community; not only his he an amazing chess player, he can teach all of us a lesson in positivity and passion.

Thanks for reading!

JC