Gabriel Sargissian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full name | Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian |
| Country | Armenia |
| Born | (1983-09-03)September 3, 1983 (age 41) Yerevan,Armenian SSR,Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (2002) |
| FIDE rating | 2628 (March 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2711 (September 2022) |
| Peak ranking | No. 32 (September 2022) |
Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian (Armenian:Գաբրիել Էդուարդի Սարգսյան,Gabriel Eduardi Sargsyan; born 3 September 1983) is an Armenianchessgrandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at theChess Olympiads in 2006, 2008 and 2012 and at theWorld Team Chess Championship in 2011. Sargissian was awarded theMovses Khorenatsi medal in June 2006[1] and awarded the Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia title in 2009.[2]
Sargissian was born inYerevan on 3 September 1983 and was taught to play chess by his grandfather when he was 6.[3] He won theWorld Youth Chess Championship (under 14) in 1996 and theEuropean Youth Chess Championship (under 16) in 1998.[4] In the same year he became anInternational Master.[3]
Sargissian won theArmenian Chess Championship in 2000 and 2003.[5] He took part in theFIDE World Chess Championship 2004, but was eliminated in the first round bySergei Tiviakov.[6] Sargissian was victorious atReykjavík 2006[7] andDubai 2006.[8] At the 8th Dubai Open in 2006, Sargissian scored 7/0 points, sharing first place withSergey Fedorchuk and compatriotTigran L. Petrosian.[9] In 2007 he won theRuy Lopez Festival (Zafra,Spain, March 16–25) finishing with 6.5/7, a 2½ point margin above the rest, including in particular the playersPonomariov,Sasikiran,I. Sokolov,[10] and with a 3021 performance rating.[11] He came in third place at the 2008 Second Ruy López International in Mérida with 4.5/7 points.[12] In 2009 he came first in the 18th Annual Chicago Open.[13] He qualified for theChess World Cup 2009 and was knocked out byLi Chao in the first round.[14] Sargissian won the Annual Chicago Open 2012 with 7.0/9 points.[15]
In 2014, Sargissian tied for 1st–2nd withPriyadharshan Kannappan in the 23rd Annual Chicago Open.[16] In 2015 he tied for 1st–3rd withPentala Harikrishna andLaurent Fressinet at the 2ndPokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament inDouglas, Isle of Man.[17] In November 2017, Sargissian won the silver medal for individual performance on board 3 with a 2797 TPR, 6.5/9 score (+4, =5) in theEuropean Team Chess Championship.[18] In December 2017, he shared 1st–3rd places withHrant Melkumyan andSebastien Maze in 9th CSC London Chess Classic FIDE Open.[19]
In February 2018, he participated in theAeroflot Open. He finished eighth out of ninety-two,[20] scoring 6/9 (+3–0=6).[21]
Sargissian played for Armenia in theChess Olympiads of 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. He took team bronze medal in 2002 and 2004, team gold medal in 2006, 2008 and 2012, and team silver medal em 2022.
On Sargissian's performances at the Chess Olympiads, Grandmaster Peter Svidler commented in 2010: "Gabi Sargissian is a kind of Armenian Hulk: a very good, but nevertheless not brilliant player, who once every two years at the Olympiad turns into a real monster, and in many ways it was due to that metamorphosis that the Armenians twice won the Olympiad.".[22]
Svidler's comment proved to be true once again at the 2022 Chess Olympiads, where Armenia's Silver Medal was largely due to Sargissian's stellar performance in board one, where in the last decisive five rounds he scored 4.5 points, with wins over 4 grandmasters with ratings above 2700:Caruana,Pentala Harikrishna,Mamedyarov andShirov.[23]
Armenia won its first everChess Olympiad at the37th Chess Olympiad. Sargissian played on board five for the Olympiad. The Armenia national chess team won gold ahead of China and the United States.[24]
In 2008, Sargissian won the38th Chess Olympiad inDresden with the Armenia national Chess team, winning gold for the second time in a row at a Chess Olympiad.[25] He played on board three and defeated Alexander Grischuk, the only win in a game with Russia, putting Armenia in the lead. Armenia ended up winning by one point ahead of Israel.[26] In this Chess Olympiad, Sargissian won the gold medal for his individual performance on board three (+7 −0 =4 with an Eloperformance rating of 2869).[27] Armenian PresidentSerzh Sargsyan attended the Olympiad to support the team. After the Olympiad, they flew back to Armenia with him on the presidential plane, Air Force Armenia One.[28]
Armenia and Sargissian regained their Olympiad title in 2012 at the40th Chess Olympiad. This was the third time Armenia won gold at the Olympiad. As the players, one of them wasLevon Aronian, were awarded their gold medals, the Armenian national anthemMer Hayrenik was played and the Armenian flag was raised in Istanbul.[29][30] Upon returning to Yerevan, the players were welcomed back with a ceremony by many people in the city the moment their airplane touched down inZvartnots Airport.[31]
The Armenian national chess team won theWorld Team Chess Championship for the first time in 2011, the tournament took place inNingbo.[32] Sargissian played on board four.[32] He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at theWorld Team Chess Championship 2011. He also played for Armenia in theEuropean Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015, winning team silver medal in 2007 and 2015, and individual gold in 2009.[33]
Sargissian played for "CA Linex Magic Mérida" (Spain) in the 23rdEuropean Chess Club Cup in Kemer 2007, winning team gold medal. He played for "MIKA Yerevan" in the European Chess Club Cup in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.[34]
In June 2006 Sargissian was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi medal,[35] in December 2009 the Medal For Services Contributed to the Motherland and in July 2012 the Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia.[36]
In 2012, together withLevon Aronian, Sargissian founded a chess school in Yerevan, where the most talented chess players between the ages of 10 and 18 can study.[37]
Sargissian is married to Liana Avoyan, an alumna ofArmenian National Agrarian University. The wedding took place on 28 June 2013 at theSaint Sarkis Cathedral, Yerevan, with Armenian PresidentSerzh Sargsyan in attendance.[38]
