 Aronian in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Levon Grigori Aronian (1982-10-06)6 October 1982 (age 43) Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Education | Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport |
Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Chess career | |
| Country | |
| Title | Grandmaster (2000) |
| FIDE rating | 2729 (February 2026) |
| Peak rating | 2830 (March 2014) |
| Ranking | No. 18 (February 2026) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (January 2012) |
Levon Grigori Aronian (Armenian:Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան,romanized: Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenianchess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. Achess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a formerworld rapid andblitz champion. His highest classical ranking was No. 2 position in the March 2014FIDE world chess rankings with arating of 2830,[3] becoming thefourth highest-rated player in history.
Aronian won theFIDE World Cup in2005 and2017. He led the Armenian national team to the gold medals in theChess Olympiads of2006 (Turin),2008 (Dresden) and2012 (Istanbul)[4] and at theWorld Team Chess Championship inNingbo 2011. He won theFIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, qualifying him for theCandidates Tournament for theWorld Chess Championship 2012. He was also world champion inChess960 in 2006 and 2007, inrapid chess in 2009, and inblitz chess in 2010.
Aronian has been the leadingArmenian chess player since the early 2000s.[5] His popularity inArmenia has led to him being called a celebrity[6] and a hero.[7] He was named the best sportsman of Armenia in 2005[8] and was awarded the title of Honoured Master of Sport of Armenia in 2009. In 2012, he was awarded theOrder of St. Mesrop Mashtots.[9] In 2016,CNN called Aronian the "David Beckham of chess".[10]
In late February 2021, Aronian announced his decision to transfer his federation fromArmenia to theUnited States, citing the lack of government support as his primary reason.[11] The transfer was completed in December 2021 and he has since represented the United States.[12]
Aronian was born on 6 October 1982 inYerevan, Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union), to Seda Avagyan, an Armenianmining engineer,[13] and Grigory Leontievich Aronov,[14] aRussian Jewish physicist[15] from theVitebsk Region, Belarus.[16] He has said, "I feel much more Armenian than Jewish, although there are sides to me which are more Jewish culturally, involving the arts and music."[14] He was taught to play chess by his sister, Lilit, at the age of nine. His second coach was GrandmasterMelikset Khachiyan. An early sign of his ability came when he won the 1994World Youth Chess Championship (under-12) inSzeged with 8/9, ahead of future luminariesÉtienne Bacrot,Ruslan Ponomariov,Francisco Vallejo Pons, andAlexander Grischuk.[17]
One of Aronians long-term coaches has beenAshot Nadanian,[18] whom Aronian called "absolutely irreplaceable" in 2011.[19]
Aronian holds a diploma from theArmenian State Institute of Physical Culture.[20]
In 2001, Aronian scored 7/9 in theCappelle-la-Grande Open, half a point behind the joint winnersEinar Gausel andVladimir Chuchelov. A few months later, he won the Young Masters tournament atLausanne.[21]
In 2002, he won theArmenian Chess Championship.[22] In the same year, he becameWorld Junior Champion, scoring 10/13 and finishing ahead ofSurya Ganguly,Artyom Timofeev,Luke McShane,Bu Xiangzhi,Pentala Harikrishna, and others.[23]
In 2003, he participated in the first-class four-player round-robin at theHoogeveen chess tournament[24] where he scored 3/6, behindJudit Polgar, tied withIvan Sokolov, and ahead ofAnatoly Karpov.[25]
Aronian made his debut at theFIDE World Chess Championship in 2004. In the first round, he beat the thirteen-year-oldMagnus Carlsen, who also made his debut at the tournament.[26] In the third round he lost toPavel Smirnov.[27]
By 2005, Aronian had entered the top ten by FIDE Elo rating.[28] In 2005, he was part of a five-way tie for first place at the Gibtelecom Masters inGibraltar withZahar Efimenko,Kiril Georgiev,Alexei Shirov andEmil Sutovsky.[29]
During the 12th Russian Team Championship, held in April 2005 inSochi, Aronian played on board three for Tomsk-400, scoring 7½/9 with a performance rating of around 2850.[30][31] Tomsk-400 won the championship, and this result also qualified them for the 2005European Chess Club Cup, which the team also won. During that event, held in Saint-Vincent, Italy, Aronian played on board one and scored 4.5/7.[32]
In October 2005 Aronian also won theKarabakh 2005 International "A" Tournament.[33] In December he beatRuslan Ponomariov in the final round to win theWorld Cup inKhanty Mansiysk, Russia.[34]
In March 2006, Aronian won the annualLinares chess tournament, half a point ahead ofTeimour Radjabov and then-World Chess ChampionVeselin Topalov.[35] In November 2006, he tied for first in theTal Memorial chess competition. The April–July 2006FIDE rating list ranked Aronian the third highest rated player in the world.[36] Armenia won its first everChess Olympiad at the37th Chess Olympiad.
In January 2007, Aronian shared first place at theCorus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee along withVeselin Topalov and Radjabov.[37] All three scored 8.5/13.[38] In May 2007, he defeated World ChampionVladimir Kramnik 4–2 in a rapid chess match.[39]
His 2005 World Cup victory qualified him for the Candidates Tournament of theWorld Chess Championship 2007, scheduled for May–June 2007. In this tournament he playedMagnus Carlsen, and they tied 3–3 in the initial six games, then 2–2 in rapid chess, and finally Aronian won 2–0 inblitz chess. In the finals, he defeatedShirov 3½–2½. This qualified him for the final stage of thechampionship, which was played in Mexico. There, he scored 6/14, finishing seventh out of eight players.[40]
In January 2008, he won theCorus chess tournament jointly withMagnus Carlsen, scoring 8/13.[41] In March 2008, he won theMelody Amber Blindfold/Rapid tournament held in Nice, France, 2½ points ahead of the nearest competitors.[42] Apart from his first place win in the overall tournament, he also took sole first place in the rapid section of the tournament and shared first place in the Blindfold section with three other chess grandmasters:Kramnik,Morozevich, andTopalov.
In June 2008, Aronian won the Karen Asrian Memorial Rapid chess tournament inYerevan.[43][44] At theSecond FIDE Grand Prix inSochi, Aronian defeatedAlexander Grischuk in the final and finished at 8½/13 and aperformance rating of 2816.[45] Aronian won the38th Chess Olympiad inDresden with the Armenia national chess team, winning gold for the second time in a row.[46]
Aronian won the Fourth FIDE Grand Prix in April 2009 with a score of 8½/13, one point ahead ofPeter Leko and fellow ArmenianVladimir Akopian.[47] On 2 August 2009, Aronian won theWorld Rapid Chess Championship.[48] After winning theBilbao Chess Masters Final in September 2009,[49] his FIDE rating was just four points behind World ChampionViswanathan Anand.[50] In November 2009, he competed in theMikhail Tal Memorial and finished in fourth place. In December 2009, Aronian was awarded the title of "Honoured Master of Sport of Armenia".[51]
Aronian won theFIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, qualifying him for the Candidates tournament for theWorld Chess Championship 2012.
In August 2010, he unsuccessfully defended the World Rapid Chess title, losing to eventual championGata Kamsky.[52]
In November 2010, he shared first at the category XXITal Memorial.[53] He also won the 2010World Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow.[54]
In January 2011, he tied for 3rd in the 73rdTata Steel Chess Tournament.[55] In March 2011, he won the finalMelody Amber Blindfold/Rapid tournament for the third time.[56] In November 2011, Aronian played in the Tal Memorial in Moscow in a round robin with ten players. He tied for first with Magnus Carlsen, with both scoring 5½/9.[57]
In January 2012, Aronian won theTata Steel Chess Tournament with 9/13 and a performance rating of 2891. Following his successful performance, which included wins againstHikaru Nakamura,Fabiano Caruana andAnish Giri, Aronian achieved the then third highest ever Fide rating at 2824.[58][59][60][61]
TheBilbao Chess Masters Final 2012 took place in October, in which Aronian came in third place.[62] In December 2012, Aronian competed in theLondon Chess Classic, coming in sixth place with one win, 5 draws and 2 losses.[63] Later that month, he won theSportAccord World Mind Games, a blindfold tournament, inBeijing.[64]
In the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January, Aronian finished second with five wins, one loss and seven draws, in second place behind Carlsen.[65] Aronian finished fourth in the2013 Candidates Tournament.[66] In the 2013Alekhine Memorial tournament, Aronian finished first, scoring three wins, one loss and five draws.[67]
Aronian participated in the 2014Zurich Chess Challenge and tied for second place, along withFabiano Caruana.[68] He played in the 2014 Candidates Tournament, and finished tied second to last.[69]
In the2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, he scored one win, three losses and nine draws, for 5½/13 points.[70] In February 2015, he played in theGrenke Chess Classic in Baden-Baden Germany, scoring 3½/7 points.[71] Later that month, he played in the Zurich Chess Challenge 2015, winning the Blitz tournament with 4/5 points. He scored 4/10 points in the Classical tournament, and scored 3/5 points in the Rapid tournament. He finished 4th overall in the tournament.[72]
Aronian participated in theGrand Chess Tour, a series of three super tournaments (Norway Chess, Sinquefield Cup, and London Chess Classic) in which players try to accumulate the most Grand Chess Tour points through the three tournaments. In Norway Chess, he scored 3/9 (9th place in the tournament).[73] On 1 September 2015, he won the 3rdSinquefield Cup, with a +3 score, scoring wins over Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So.[74]
He played in theChess World Cup 2015, a knockout chess tournament played in Baku, Azerbaijan. This tournament was one of the last remaining qualifiers for the Chess Candidates Tournament 2016 (winner and runner-up will qualify), which determined the challenger toMagnus Carlsen in theWorld Chess Championship 2016. He was eliminated in Round 2 by GrandmasterAlexander Areschenko.[75] However, he was selected as organizer's nominee to play in the 2016 Candidates Tournament by Armenian businessmanSamvel Karapetyan.
In October 2015, he participated in the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Berlin, Germany. In the Rapid Championship, he placed 43rd overall, scoring 8½/15 points. In the Blitz, he placed 11th overall, scoring 13½/21 points.[76] Aronian won the 2015European Chess Club Cup with Team Siberia Novosibirsk, which featuredKramnik,Grischuk,Li Chao,Wang Yue,Korobov,Kokarev, andBocharov.[77]
In December 2015, Aronian played in the final leg of theGrand Chess Tour, theLondon Chess Classic. In this tournament, he scored 5/9, with one victory againstVeselin Topalov. Overall, he scored 22 Grand Tour Points out of 39 to earn himself a spot in the top 3 of the overall Tour standings, securing an invitation in the next Grand Chess Tour.
In April 2017, Aronian won theGrenke Chess Classic inBaden-Baden, Germany. In the 7-round tournament, he scored 5½ points, 1½ points ahead of Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.[78]
On 16 June 2017, Aronian won the fifth edition of theNorway Chess Tournament (with a PR of 2918, and a full point ahead of nearest rivals), beating Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin.[79] In August 2017, Aronian placed joint-fourth out of ten players in the fifth edition of theSinquefield Cup with a score of 5/9.[80] On 18 August 2017, Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz with a score of 24½/36.[81]
In September 2017, Aronian won theWorld Cup, and in doing so qualified for theCandidates Tournament for the2018 World Chess Championship.[82] In November 2017, Aronian won the gold medal for individual performance in theEuropean Team Chess Championship.[83] In the same month, he tied for first withDmitry Jakovenko in theFIDE Grand Prix inPalma de Mallorca.[84] In December 2017, Aronian took fifth place in theWorld Blitz Chess Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a score of 14/21 including wins overMaxime Vachier-Lagrave and defending championSergey Karjakin.[85]
In January 2018, Aronian won the 16th AnnualGibraltar Chess Festival on tiebreaks, beating runner-upMaxime Vachier-Lagrave 2½–1½, with an overall record of 7½/10.[86] From 31 March to 9 April 2018, Aronian competed in the5th Grenke Chess Classic. He finished fifth with a score of 5/9.[87] From 28 May to 7 June, he competed in thesixth edition of Norway Chess, placing sixth with 4/8 points.[88]
In August, he competed in the6th Sinquefield Cup. He tied for first with Carlsen and Caruana on 5½/9, and jointly won the tournament after the trio decided to share the title.[89]
In August 2019, for the second time, Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. He scored 22/36, with 13 points from the Rapid section and 9 points from the Blitz section.[90][91] He reached the quarter finals in theChess World Cup 2019 held inKhanty-Mansiysk.[92] On 10 November, he won the Superbet Rapid & Blitz tournament held in Bucharest.[93]
From 11 to 13 September, Aronian participated in the Chess 9LX 2020 Champions Showdown, where he obtained third place with 5.5/9 points, half a point behind joint leaders Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen.
From 5 to 16 October, Aronian participated in the 8thAltiboxNorway Chess. He scored a total of 17.5 points, which earned him 3rd place.
In February 2021, Aronian announced, in a press release from theSaint Louis Chess Club, that he would be switching federations from Armenia to the United States of America[94] on the basis, among other things, of "the state's absolute indifference towards Armenian chess" and the ongoing war between Armenia and Azerbaijan overNagorno-Karabakh.[95] Aronian's official statement regarding this transfer is available on his official Facebook page. By the FIDE rating list at the time of the announcement, in which Aronian was the world number 5, that would make Aronian the US number 2.[96] He left for the US in September 2021.[97]
On July 4, Aronian won the Goldmoney Asian Rapid chess tournament, beating Vladislav Artemiev in the finals 2–0. Aronian's prize was $30,000.[98]
On 20 and 21 November, Aronian played in the blitz portion of theTata Steel India Chess Tournament. He clinched first place by defeating GMArjun Erigaisi in the Armaggedon.
From 26 to 28 December 2021, Aronian participated in the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Championship, where he ended up in seventh place with 9/13 points after tiebreaks.[99]
He also participated in theWorld Blitz Chess Championship from 29 to 30 December, where he scored 14/21 points to obtain 5th place.
Through February and March 2022, Aronian played in theFIDE Grand Prix 2022. In the first leg, he placed first in Pool C with a 4.5/6 result and defeated Leinier Domínguez in the semifinals 1.5/2. He lost toHikaru Nakamura in the finals with a 1/4 result in classical and rapid time formats. In the third leg, he finished third in Pool A with a result of 3/6, finishing fourth in the standings with 12 points.
In April 2022 he was a participant in theAmerican Cup, winning the elimination bracket and finishing 2nd behindFabiano Caruana.
In May 2022 he tied for first in the Superbet Chess Classic, losing in tiebreaks toMaxime Vachier-Lagrave, andWesley So. The same month, Aronian tied for second in the Superbet Rapid and Blitz Poland and became the number one ranked Blitz player in the world with a rating of 2850.
In July 2022, he won the FTX Road to Miami online event, qualifying him for the FTX Crypto Cup.
During August–November 2022, he heavily struggled in tournaments, losing 40 points between August and November.
In January 2023, he played in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, scoring 6.5/13.
In February 2023 he won theWR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf after winning playoffs againstIan Nepomniachtchi andDommaraju Gukesh.[100]
During June–July 2023, he was a part of the team Triveni Continental Kings, winning the inauguralGlobal Chess League in Dubai. In March 2024, he won The American Cup in St. Louis, MO.
Aronian finished 4th in Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, scoring 20 points.
In July 2025, Aronian won theFreestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas against earning $200,000.[101] In December 2025, he followed it up by winning the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Final in Cape Town, South Africa. He beatMagnus Carlsen 1½-0½ in the final, earning him another $200,000 plus $50,000 for finishing second on the Tour.
In August, Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2025 with 24.5 points.
Aronian represented Armenia in theChess Olympiads of 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012.[102] He took team bronze medal in 2004 and team gold medal in 2006, 2008 and 2012. In the2010 Chess Olympiad he won the silver medal for his individual performance on board one.[103] In the2012 Chess Olympiad Aronian won the gold medal on board one. Aronian was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at theWorld Team Chess Championship in 2011, where he won the silver medal on board one.[104] Aronian competed for Armenia in the 2013 World Team Chess Championship, where he won the gold medal on board one. In 2024 Aronian competed for the US in the chess olympiad and won a silver medal for his performance on board 4.
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Aronian broke the 2800 rating barrier in the November 2010 FIDE world ranking with a rating of 2801.[105] He is the sixth player to cross the 2800 rating mark, afterGarry Kasparov,Vladimir Kramnik,Viswanathan Anand,Veselin Topalov, andMagnus Carlsen. In March 2014 he reached a personal rating record of 2830, which is the fourth-highest rating ever attained, behind Carlsen, Kasparov, and Caruana.[106]
In 2003 Aronian won the FinetChess960 open atMainz; this qualified him for a match against Chess960 World ChampionPeter Svidler at Mainz the following year, a match which he lost 4½–3½. He won the Finet Chess960 open tournament again in 2005[107] which earned him a rematch with Svidler in 2006, and won the match this time 5–3 to become Chess960 World Champion.[108]
In 2007, he successfully defended his title of Chess960 World Champion by beatingViswanathan Anand.[109] He lost the title in 2009 toHikaru Nakamura.[110]
In 2019 Aronian participated in the Chess960 event The Champions Showdown 9LX. There he faced Hikaru Nakamura in a series of 6 rapid and 14 blitz games. Despite gaining a lead early on, at one point leading with the score 7½–½, he ended up losing 11½–14½.[111]
In 2025, Aronian competed in the final leg of the inauguralFreestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, held inLas Vegas. After tying withMagnus Carlsen in the round-robin rapid stage, he won a blitz tiebreak to qualify for the knockout rounds.[112] He then defeated Hikaru Nakamura 2½–1½ in the quarterfinals, sweptArjun Erigaisi 2–0 in the semifinals, and beatHans Niemann 1½–½ in the final to win the tournament.[101] This marked Aronian's first Grand Slam title in Chess960 since Mainz 2006, earning him $200,000 in prize money and finishing fifth in the overall tour standings.[113] He followed it up with a win at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Final inCape Town, South Africa, finishing unbeaten and beating Magnus Carlsen 1½–½ in the final earning him $200,000. This took him to finishing second on the tour behind Carlsen earning him a further $50,000 prize money.
Viswanathan Anand called Aronian "a very giftedtactician",[114] and said that "He's always looking for various little tricks to solve technical tasks."[115] In 2011,Boris Gelfand described Aronian as "the most striking player around, with the highest creative level, in terms both ofopenings and original ideas in themiddlegame."[116]
In a 2010 conference,Alexei Shirov said: "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."[117] In 2012,Sergey Karjakin, speaking about Aronian's style, made an analogy with football and compared him withLionel Messi.[118]
As white, Aronian plays mainly1. d4.[119] According to Anand, "Though he opens with 1. d4, he treats these positions like ane4-player."[114] Aronian is an expert in theMarshall Attack.[120]
In 2012, withGabriel Sargissian, Aronian founded a chess school in Yerevan, where the most talented chess players between the ages of 10 and 18 can study.[121]
Aronian's mother, Seda Aronova, published a book about her son on 22 November 2013, recounting her memories of his childhood and accomplishments.[122]
He is a jazz fan. His favorite musician isJohn Coltrane.[123] His favorite classical composers includeBach,Bruckner,Mahler, andShostakovich.[124]
Aronian started dating Filipino-AustralianWoman International MasterArianne Caoili in 2008.[125][126][127] The two announced their engagement in February 2015,[125] and were married on 30 September 2017 in Yerevan.[128] They first met at the 1996 World Youth Chess Championships inLas Palmas; they were reintroduced in 2006 by their mutual friend,International MasterAlex Wohl.[129] Caoili died on 30 March 2020[130] as a result of injuries sustained in a road accident two weeks prior.[131][132]
In 2021, Aronian moved to the USA; he currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri.[133]
In 2023, Aronian married Anita Ayvazyan, an international literature major at theAmerican University of Armenia. They had a daughter in 2022 whom they named Zabelle.[134][135][136]
...for the last decade [...] leadingArmenia to victory in team competition and being constantly in the World Championship discussion.
Aronian is a major celebrity in his chess-loving home country.
And Mr Aronian enjoys a similar level of hero-worship to, say, David Beckham.
...շախմատիստի մայրն է՝ մասնագիտությամբ լեռնային ինժեներ Սեդա Արոնովա-Ավագյանը:
Every summer holiday until the USSR got dissolved and traveling became very difficult, my family went to Belarus to a little village calledKokhanovo in theTolochin area of theVitebsk region. My father's family is from there.
...a graduate of the Chess Department of the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture (later Levon Aronian himself graduated from that higher educational institution)
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Rapid Chess Champion 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Blitz Chess Champion 2010 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
