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Chess History in a Nutshell 104 – Levon Aronian
Levon Grigori Aronian (born October 6, 1982) has been a top Armenian-American chess player for many years. A former child prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title in 2000 at the age of 17. He is a former world champion in rapid and blitz chess and, in March 2014, was ranked number 2 on the FIDE world ranking list with a rating of 2830—making him the fourth-highest-rated player in history.
Aronian won the FIDE World Cup twice, in 2005 and 2017. He led the Armenian national team to gold medals at the Chess Olympiads in 2006 (Turin), 2008 (Dresden), and 2012 (Istanbul), as well as at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China, in 2011. He also won the FIDE Grand Prix (2008–2010), which qualified him for the 2012 World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament. Additionally, he was the Chess960 world champion in 2006 and 2007, the world rapid champion in 2009, and the world blitz champion in 2010.
In late February 2021, Aronian announced his decision to transfer from the Armenian Chess Federation to the United States Chess Federation, citing a decline in government support for chess. The transfer was finalized in December 2021.
Viswanathan Anand described Aronian as "a very gifted tactician," noting that "Aronian is always looking for various small tactical twists to solve strategic or technical problems." In 2011, Boris Gelfand praised him as "the most remarkable player out there, with the highest level of creativity, both in terms of openings and original ideas in the middlegame." Similarly, at a 2010 conference, Alexei Shirov stated: "Levon Aronian is the most successful player with an ultra-aggressive style. He achieves this result thanks to his rare intuition in the sharpest positions."
Aronian married Filipino-Australian WGM Arianne Caoili in September 2017 in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Tragically, on March 30, 2020, Aronian revealed on his X (Twitter) account that Caoili had passed away due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Later, he remarried Anita Ayvazyan, a student of international literature at the American University of Armenia. In 2022, they welcomed their daughter, whom they named Zabelle.
The diagram presents a critical moment in one of Aronian’s games. White is down a piece and several pawns, while the black king appears to be relatively safe on the unusual square f5. However, Aronian knew his attack had to be decisive. Once again, he needed to find fresh fuel for his offensive. Can you spot the brilliant move that allows him to conclude his attack with a spectacular finish?
Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.
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