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Sam Sevian won the Stepan Avagyan Memorial for a second time after finishing level with Vladislav Artemiev on 5½/9 points and taking first place on tiebreaks. Both players completed the 10-player round-robin unbeaten, each scoring two wins and seven draws.
The tournament took place from 28 May to 6 June 2026 in Jermuk, Armenia. It was organised by the Chess Academy of Armenia in collaboration with the Jermuk Ashkhar Health Centre. The event was played as a 10-player all-play-all, with one round per day and no rest days. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one.
Artemiev, representing FIDE, entered the final round as sole leader on 5/8. He had moved ahead of the field in round seven, when he defeated defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram with the black pieces to score his second win of the event. Going into the last day, Sevian and top seed Nihal Sarin were half a point behind.
Vladislav Artemiev | Photo: Official website
In the final round, Artemiev quickly drew with Nihal in 11 moves with the white pieces. That result guaranteed him at least a share of first place, but it also gave Sevian the chance to catch him with a win over Aravindh. Sevian, playing white, faced a French Defence, and the game soon developed into a double-edged battle after the players castled on opposite flanks.
Aravindh had a clear advantage on the clock, but still blundered decisively on move 28. Sevian found the winning tactical shot and saw his opponent resign two moves later.
After the strong 27.Rdf1, threatening to capture on f7, Aravindh found the precise 27...Nc1+!, and if White captures with 28.Rxc1? Black wins with 28...bxc3 and his attack is quicker.
Thus, Sevian replied by 28.Ka1, when Black can keep the balance in a number of ways, including via 28...Nb3+ followed by a perpetual check. Instead, the Indian GM blundered with 28...Bf8??, allowing White to play the formidable 29.Rf6!
White threatens both to give checkmate with 30.Qh6+ Kg8 31.Rg6+! fxg6 32.Rf8# (note that the bishop on f8 prevents Black from defending with ...Ra8-h8) and to capture on d5 with the knight, since the pawn on e6 is pinned. Aravindh played 29...Kf8 and resigned after 30.Nxd5
The knight has not only gained a pawn, but is also covering the all-important e7-square! The victory allowed Sevian to join Artemiev in first place on 5½/9.
Sam Sevian | Photo: Official website
According to the tournament regulations, the title was decided by the first tiebreak criterion, Sonneborn-Berger score. Sevian had a better score than Artemiev and was therefore declared the winner. The 25-year-old from Corning, New York, who is of Armenian ascendancy, had also won the event in 2023.
The result also had an impact on Sevian's rating. He gained 4.7 points in Jermuk and returned to the 2700 club in the live ratings list.
Nihal and Ray Robson finished half a point behind the joint winners, on 5/9. Robson joined Nihal in shared third place after winning his final-round game with the black pieces against Polish grandmaster Szymon Gumularz.
Ray Robson with his prizes | Photo: Official website
All the participants and the main organisers | Photo: Official website
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