Ashot Nadanian
Encyclopedia
Ashot Nadanian is an Armenia
n chess
International Master (1997), chess theoretician
and chess coach
.
His highest achievements have been in opening theory
and coaching. Two opening variations are named after him: the Nadanian Variation
in the Grünfeld Defence
and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening. He began coaching at the age of 22 and has brought up three grandmasters. He has coached the national teams of Kuwait
and Singapore
and was awarded the titles Honoured Coach of Armenia in 1998 and FIDE Trainer in 2007. In 2011 he became the second of Levon Aronian
.
Though a strong player who competed in the 1996 Chess Olympiad
and narrowly failed to qualify for the 1999 FIDE World Chess Championship
, he has never fulfilled his potential. According to Valery Chekhov
, Nadanian "possesses enormous chess potential, but he was not able to find enough time to work professionally on his chess." Levon Aronian said that due to the situation in Armenia, Nadanian "was not able to display even one-tenth of his playing talent."
Due to his imaginative attacking style, Nadanian has been described as a "brilliant eccentric", the "Armenian Tal
" and "Kasparov's half-brother". The sixth chapter of Tibor Karolyi
's 2009 book Genius in the Background is devoted to Nadanian.
, Azerbaijan SSR, which then was part of the Soviet Union
, to Sergei and Irina, both hairdressers. He was taught to play chess by his father when he was seven. His early coach was Rafael Sarkisov, who took him on as a pupil at Spartak
in Baku. In his article The Voiceless Old Man Nadanian recollects, that when he was nine or ten there were almost no chess tournament
s in which young players could play with seniors and therefore he often went to the park near his house to play chess with older chess lovers. He remembers that in one of these park-battles he played against a mysterious, silent stranger who turned out to be the highly-respected chess champion Vladimir Makogonov
. In 1986 and 1987 Nadanian won the under-sixteen Azerbaijani championship. With the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh War
in 1988, his family was forced to leave Baku and flee to Armenia.
s of 1997, 1998 and 1999, in the 32nd Chess Olympiad
in Yerevan
1996, in the 13th European Chess Club Cup
1997, in the Zonal tournament in Panormo 1998, where he shared 7th–11th places out of 72 participants and in the first European Individual Chess Championship in Saint-Vincent
2000.
His other performances:
, a website that uses a different scale, at his peak in October 2003 Nadanian was the 216th best player in the world. His best single performance was at Moscow Aeroflot Open
, 2002, where he scored five of nine possible points (56%) against 2628-rated opposition, for a performance rating of 2636. He has two grandmaster norm
s.
Nadanian has an imaginative and adventurous style of playing, and even his mistakes, according to Tibor Karolyi
, "contain elements of creativity". He likes to create fresh, atypical positions straight from the opening, often employing bizarre maneuvers to achieve his goals. Uncommon chess openings have always been a part of his repertoire (e.g. Sokolsky Opening
, Budapest Gambit).
Kingpin
magazine called him "a brilliant eccentric". Tibor Karolyi
devoted a chapter to him in his 2009 book Genius in the Background and jokingly called him "Kasparov's Half-Brother", as Kasparov
and Nadanian were both coached by Alexander Shakarov
, and there were similarities in their playing styles. In particular, Karolyi emphasizes their ability to implement effective ideas on the edge of the board
, attributing this to the influence of their common chess "father". As an example of flank pawn advances versus a solid centre, John L. Watson
in his 2003 book Chess Strategy in Action brings attention to the game Nadanian – Ponomariov
, Kiev 1997 and calls it "almost satire on rule-breaking", as nine of White's first thirteen moves have been pawn moves and only one of those has been with a central pawn, yet Black's position was extremely difficult.
The 2005 World Cup
winner Levon Aronian
said of Nadanian: "His passion for beauty, his devotion to the romantic chess school has always been inspiring." Grandmaster Valery Chekhov
noted that "along with his positive qualities like very subtle understanding of dynamic positions, very good sense of initiative and quick thinking, Ashot’s play has a few negative facets like weak opening repertoire, bad defence, and the psychological element of the game as well."
, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence
(after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4) and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5). The first variation has been used by many strong GMs such as Viktor Korchnoi
, Bu Xiangzhi
, Walter Browne, Smbat Lputian
, Jonathan Rowson
, Andrei Kharlov
, Bogdan Lalić
, Igor Lysyj
, while the second has never enjoyed popularity among top-flight players.
Described by John Donaldson
as "the ever inventive creator of novelties", he has made a number of other notable innovations, including:
Nadanian has contributed analysis to many chess publications throughout the world including the Chess Informant
, New In Chess Yearbook
, 64
, Kaissiber and Szachy Chess. He is a columnist for the Chessville.com website and has also written for ChessBase
and the Armenian Chess Academy website.
in 1994, he became a chess trainer. At 26 he became the youngest Honoured Coach of Armenia
. Among his students are Grandmasters Gabriel Sargissian, Varuzhan Akobian
and Davit G. Petrosian
. He has also occasionally helped GM Tigran L. Petrosian
.
From December 1999 until August 2001, he worked as the National Team Coach of Kuwait
. Between 2005 and 2010, he was the National Coach of Singapore
Men's Team.
In 2007, Nadanian was awarded the title of FIDE Trainer.
At the "Full English Breakfast" website (thefeb.com, podcast #7 Part 1), Levon Aronian
refers to Nadanian as his friend and second. Unable to accompany Aronian to the 2011 Wijk aan Zee tournament, they maintained daily contact online.
During the entire month of February 2011, Nadanian, together with a team of five grandmasters—Wang Hao
, Movsesian
, Sargissian, Pashikian
and Melkumyan
—held training camp in Tsaghkadzor, helping Aronian to prepare for the Candidates Tournament
of the World Chess Championship 2012 cycle. At the 2011 Crestbook KC-Conference Aronian noted: "Lots of players are involved in my team, but Ashot Nadanian is absolutely irreplaceable. Besides the work he does himself he manages the whole process, while also planning training sessions."
Nadanian once said in an interview that one of the joyful events of his life was the ending of the Turin Olympiad
in 2006, when his student Sargissian became Olympic champion with the Armenian team and his other student Akobian won bronze with the U.S. team. At the next Olympiad in Dresden
the story repeated itself: Sargissian won team gold medal and Akobian won team bronze.
along with reading
and watching classical piano performances is chess composition. His first puzzle
appeared in 1986 and since that time he has composed about fifty studies and puzzles, of which he considers only ten or twelve to be good. He is particularly attracted by the problems, where in a final position White wins with a king and knights only. Whilst two knights cannot force checkmate
against a lone king, they can do so in some exceptional cases when the defender has pawns or other pieces. This idea is most clearly embodied in the highly original Nadanian's problem with seven knights (see diagram at right). In December 2009, ChessBase
published three of Nadanian's puzzles on "knights theme", calling him "a hippophile chess composer."
A chess book collector, Nadanian has a private library
of more than a thousand volumes.
He also plays correspondence chess
.
. He married Evelina Zakharian since 1999, and they have a daughter Kiti (born 2004 in Moscow) and a son Vigen (born 2010 in Singapore). When asked in an interview whether being a father negatively affects his chess career, Nadanian replied, "I do not know, but even if that would be true, I'll never be sorry. Kiti and Vigen are more important to me than all my chess achievements put together."
, Gabriel Sargissian, Ara Minasian, Varuzhan Akobian
and Andranik Matikozian. Nadanian also said that during the Linares Open of 1998 his friend Levon Aronian joked that Nadanian ate cat food. When in 2004 Nadanian named his daughter Kiti, Aronian replied, "See? I told you that it was 'Whiskas'!"
) and the former Russian champion
, Konstantin Sakaev
(Black
) on the Internet Chess Club
server in 2001. It was annotated by Tibor Karolyi in his Genius in the Background book (2010) and by Lubomir Kavalek in The Washington Post
on January 4, 2010:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4 White preventing c7–c5 and threatening 6.e4. 5...Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.Nf3 f5?! This weakens the kingside. 9.exf5 gxf5 10.Nxb6 axb6 11.Bc4+ Kh8? Yet another mistake; 11...e6 is correct. 12.Ng5! Opens the diagonal for the queen to reach the h-file. 12...Qe8 13.Bf7!! Kavalek writes, "A shocking deflection allowing the white queen to join the attack." 13...Rxf7 14.Qh5 Kg8 After 14...Bf6 15.Nxf7+ Kg7 16.Qh6+! Kxf7 17.Qh5+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ White wins. 15.Qxh7+ Kf8 16.Ne6+!! Karolyi writes, "This is a truly ferocious shot". 16...Bxe6 17.Bh6! Black has no defense against 18.Qh8 checkmate
. 1–0
Karolyi proclaims, "A particularly striking example to showcase Ashot's brilliant attacking play."
The following game was played between the former member of China's Olympiad team
GM Wu Shaobin
(White
) and Nadanian (Black
) at Singapore 2006:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Be2 Ncxe5 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.0-0 0-0 9.b3 Re8 10.Bb2 a5 Well-known plan in this position, introduced by the IM Dolfi Drimer in 1968, with which Black develops the a8 rook along the sixth rank using the Ra8–a6–h6 manoeuvre. 11.Nc3 Ra6 12.Ne4 Ba7 13.Ng3 Qh4 14.Nf5 Qg5!? This was a new move. Before had been played 14...Qe4. 15.Nd4 Rg6 16.g3 d5?! 18...Qh6 was stronger. 17.cxd5? White should have played 17.Nb5! 17...Bh3! 18.Re1 Ng4 19.Nf3 Qxe3! Karolyi writes, "This shows Kasparov-like aggression and ingenuity." 20.Bd4 Qxf2+!! 21.Bxf2 Bxf2+ 22.Kh1 Bb6 23.Qb1? White should have defended with 23.Rf1! After 23...Ne3 24.Qd3 Bg2+ 25.Kg1 Bh3 White can either repeat moves
with 26.Kh1, or try 26.Nd4. 23...Nf2+ 24.Kg1 Rf6! Black has time to increase the pressure. 25.b4! If 25.Qc2?, then 25...Ng4+ 26.Kh1 Bg2+! winning the queen. 25...a4! But not 25...Rxf3? 26.bxa5 26.Ng5 Ng4+! 27.Kh1 Bg2+!! "This is a marvellous move, and it must have been such a thrill to play it on the board." (Karolyi). 28.Kxg2 Rf2+ 29.Kh3 Rxh2+ 30.Kxg4 h5+ 31.Kf4 Be3+ 0–1
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
International Master (1997), chess theoretician
Chess theory
The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...
and chess coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
.
His highest achievements have been in opening theory
Chess theory
The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...
and coaching. Two opening variations are named after him: the Nadanian Variation
Grünfeld Defence, Nadanian Variation
The Nadanian Variation of the Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The variation is named after the Armenian International Master Ashot Nadanian, who first employed it in 1996...
in the Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...
and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening. He began coaching at the age of 22 and has brought up three grandmasters. He has coached the national teams of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and was awarded the titles Honoured Coach of Armenia in 1998 and FIDE Trainer in 2007. In 2011 he became the second of Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
.
Though a strong player who competed in the 1996 Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
and narrowly failed to qualify for the 1999 FIDE World Chess Championship
FIDE World Chess Championship 1999
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1999 was held in Las Vegas, United States, between 31 July and 28 August 1999. The championship was won by Russian Alexander Khalifman, making him the FIDE World Chess Champion.-Format:...
, he has never fulfilled his potential. According to Valery Chekhov
Valery Chekhov
Valery A Chekhov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Junior Chess Champion ....
, Nadanian "possesses enormous chess potential, but he was not able to find enough time to work professionally on his chess." Levon Aronian said that due to the situation in Armenia, Nadanian "was not able to display even one-tenth of his playing talent."
Due to his imaginative attacking style, Nadanian has been described as a "brilliant eccentric", the "Armenian Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
" and "Kasparov's half-brother". The sixth chapter of Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Károlyi is a Hungarian chess International Master, International Arbiter , coach, theoretician, and author. He was Hungarian Champion in 1984.In 1989 he started his coaching career...
's 2009 book Genius in the Background is devoted to Nadanian.
Early years
Nadanian was born on 19 September 1972 in BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, Azerbaijan SSR, which then was part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, to Sergei and Irina, both hairdressers. He was taught to play chess by his father when he was seven. His early coach was Rafael Sarkisov, who took him on as a pupil at Spartak
Spartak (sports society)
Spartak is the International Fitness and Sports Society of Nikolai Starostin.-Overview:Spartak was the first and the largest All-Union Voluntary Sports Society of workers of state trade, producers' cooperation, light industry, civil aviation, education, culture, health service etc...
in Baku. In his article The Voiceless Old Man Nadanian recollects, that when he was nine or ten there were almost no chess tournament
Chess tournament
A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players.Today, the most recognized chess...
s in which young players could play with seniors and therefore he often went to the park near his house to play chess with older chess lovers. He remembers that in one of these park-battles he played against a mysterious, silent stranger who turned out to be the highly-respected chess champion Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov was a chess player from Azerbaijan. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. He became an International Master in 1950 and was awarded an honorary Grandmaster title in 1987. Makogonov never became well known outside the Soviet Union, but was...
. In 1986 and 1987 Nadanian won the under-sixteen Azerbaijani championship. With the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
in 1988, his family was forced to leave Baku and flee to Armenia.
Chess career
Nadanian played in the Soviet Union Junior Chess Championships of 1987, 1988 and 1989, in the Armenian Chess ChampionshipArmenian Chess Championship
This is a list of all the winners of the Armenian Chess Championship. The first championship was played in 1934, when Armenia was a part of the Transcaucasian SFSR. Championships were held sporadically in the Armenian SSR until 1945, when they became contested every year; this has continued today...
s of 1997, 1998 and 1999, in the 32nd Chess Olympiad
32nd Chess Olympiad
The 32nd Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, took place between September 15 and October 2, 1996, in Yerevan, Armenia.- Chess competition :...
in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
1996, in the 13th European Chess Club Cup
European Chess Club Cup
-History:The tournament origins are from the former Yugoslavia, where chess club competition was quite popular. In 1996 the Women's Chess Club competition was added.-Mens Tournament:Champions.....
1997, in the Zonal tournament in Panormo 1998, where he shared 7th–11th places out of 72 participants and in the first European Individual Chess Championship in Saint-Vincent
Saint-Vincent, Italy
Saint-Vincent is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. Saint-Vincent , is a popular summer holiday resort with mineral springs .-Geography:...
2000.
His other performances:
- CzęstochowaCzestochowaCzęstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
Open, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, 1992: 1st–2nd; - TbilisiTbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
Open, GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, 1996: 1st; - PasanauriPasanauriPasanauri is a townlet in Georgia, situated in the Dusheti district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region.Pasanauri lies about 90 km north of the nation’s capital of Tbilisi, at elevation of 1,050 m. above sea level. Located on the Georgian Military Road, Pasanauri is flanked by the Aragvi River, and...
Open, Georgia, 1997: 1st–2nd; - New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Open Championship ("B"), USA, 1998: 4th–7th; - Aeroflot OpenAeroflot OpenThe Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament played in Moscow and sponsored by the airline Aeroflot. It was established in 2002 and quickly grew to be the strongest open tournament. The first event had around 80 grandmasters, while in the second event 150 grandmasters participated...
("A"), MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, 2002: 35th; - Goldberg Memorial, Moscow, Russia, 2004: 2nd–3rd;
- IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open, Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia, 2006: 6th–10th; - ASEAN Masters Circuit GMB, TarakanTarakan, East KalimantanTarakan, located on Tarakan Island is one of the major cities in eastern Borneo, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia. Once a major oil producing region during colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, 2008: 2nd–3rd; - IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2008: 3rd–7th;
- Korea Open chess tournament, SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, 2008: 6th–10th; - Singapore Rapid Chess Championship, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, 2010: 2nd; - YerevanYerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
City Chess Championship, ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, 2011: 2nd–4th; - Karen AsrianKaren AsrianKaren Asrian was an Armenian chess Grandmaster.As of the October 2006 FIDE rating list, his Elo rating was 2634, tied for the fourth highest rank in Armenia....
Memorial, JermukJermukJermuk is a spa town in the southern Armenian province of Vayots Dzor, 53 km east of Yeghegnadzor, the capital of Vayots Dzor. It was a popular destination during the Soviet era and nowadays is still famous for its hot springs and its brand of mineral water that is bottled in the vicinity...
, Armenia, 2011: 7th–13th.
Playing strength and style
Nadanian reached his best Elo rating in July 1997 with 2475 Elo points. According to ChessmetricsChessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
, a website that uses a different scale, at his peak in October 2003 Nadanian was the 216th best player in the world. His best single performance was at Moscow Aeroflot Open
Aeroflot Open
The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament played in Moscow and sponsored by the airline Aeroflot. It was established in 2002 and quickly grew to be the strongest open tournament. The first event had around 80 grandmasters, while in the second event 150 grandmasters participated...
, 2002, where he scored five of nine possible points (56%) against 2628-rated opposition, for a performance rating of 2636. He has two grandmaster norm
Grandmaster norm
A norm in chess is one of the requirements to receive a title such as Grandmaster from FIDE.- Grandmaster norm :In order to qualify for the title of Grandmaster of chess, a title awarded by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, a player must achieve three or more grandmaster norms in events covering a...
s.
Nadanian has an imaginative and adventurous style of playing, and even his mistakes, according to Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Károlyi is a Hungarian chess International Master, International Arbiter , coach, theoretician, and author. He was Hungarian Champion in 1984.In 1989 he started his coaching career...
, "contain elements of creativity". He likes to create fresh, atypical positions straight from the opening, often employing bizarre maneuvers to achieve his goals. Uncommon chess openings have always been a part of his repertoire (e.g. Sokolsky Opening
Sokolsky Opening
The Sokolsky Opening is an uncommon chess opening:According to various databases, out of the twenty possible first moves from White, 1.b4 ranks ninth in popularity...
, Budapest Gambit).
Kingpin
Kingpin (chess magazine)
Kingpin is a chess magazine published intermittently in the UK. Its editor is Jonathan Manley. Among contributors are GMs Stuart Conquest, James Plaskett, Nigel Davies, Jonathan Rowson, Aaron Summerscale, Glenn Flear, Chris Ward and Anthony Kosten.Kingpin was founded in 1985...
magazine called him "a brilliant eccentric". Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Karolyi
Tibor Károlyi is a Hungarian chess International Master, International Arbiter , coach, theoretician, and author. He was Hungarian Champion in 1984.In 1989 he started his coaching career...
devoted a chapter to him in his 2009 book Genius in the Background and jokingly called him "Kasparov's Half-Brother", as Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
and Nadanian were both coached by Alexander Shakarov
Alexander Shakarov
Alexander Shakarov is a Soviet chess player, coach and author of Armenian descent.He is best known for being Garry Kasparov's coach from 1976 to 2005. Together they wrote Caro-Kann: Classical 4…Bf5 book...
, and there were similarities in their playing styles. In particular, Karolyi emphasizes their ability to implement effective ideas on the edge of the board
Chessboard
A chessboard is the type of checkerboard used in the board game chess, and consists of 64 squares arranged in two alternating colors...
, attributing this to the influence of their common chess "father". As an example of flank pawn advances versus a solid centre, John L. Watson
John L. Watson
John Leonard Watson is a chess International Master and author.Watson was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He was educated at Brownell-Talbot, Harvard, and the University of California at San Diego, where he took his degree in engineering...
in his 2003 book Chess Strategy in Action brings attention to the game Nadanian – Ponomariov
Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE World Champion.-Early career:Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just...
, Kiev 1997 and calls it "almost satire on rule-breaking", as nine of White's first thirteen moves have been pawn moves and only one of those has been with a central pawn, yet Black's position was extremely difficult.
The 2005 World Cup
Chess World Cup 2005
The Chess World Cup 2005 served as a qualification tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. It was held as a 128-player tournament, between 27 November and 17 December 2005, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia....
winner Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
said of Nadanian: "His passion for beauty, his devotion to the romantic chess school has always been inspiring." Grandmaster Valery Chekhov
Valery Chekhov
Valery A Chekhov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Junior Chess Champion ....
noted that "along with his positive qualities like very subtle understanding of dynamic positions, very good sense of initiative and quick thinking, Ashot’s play has a few negative facets like weak opening repertoire, bad defence, and the psychological element of the game as well."
Chess theoretician
Nadanian has contributions to opening theoryChess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence, Nadanian Variation
The Nadanian Variation of the Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The variation is named after the Armenian International Master Ashot Nadanian, who first employed it in 1996...
(after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4) and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5). The first variation has been used by many strong GMs such as Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
, Bu Xiangzhi
Bu Xiangzhi
Bu Xiangzhi is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In 1999, he became China's 10th Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 10 months, 13 days, at the time the youngest in history. In April 2008, Bu and Ni Hua became the second and third Chinese players to pass the 2700 Elo rating line, after Wang Yue...
, Walter Browne, Smbat Lputian
Smbat Lputian
Smbat Gariginovich Lputian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster. He was first at tournament in Berlin 1982, shared first at Athens 1983 and at Irkutsk 1983, first at Sarajevo 1985 and at Irkutsk 1986, shared first at Hastings 1986-87 and first at Dortmund 1988...
, Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson is Scotland's third chess Grandmaster, after Paul Motwani and Colin McNab, and has played first board at recent Chess Olympiads. He is also a chess author.-Career:...
, Andrei Kharlov
Andrei Kharlov
__FORCETOC__Andrei Kharlov is a Russian chess player. In 1992, he received the title of Grandmaster after tying for first place in the 1990 Russian National Championships. Since then, Kharlov has won the 1996 Eurocup and the 1998 Russian Club Cup with the Kazan chess team...
, Bogdan Lalić
Bogdan Lalic
Bogdan Lalic is a Croatian-English Grandmaster of chess. He was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1964. FIDE awarded him the International Grandmaster title in 1988. He finished equal first at the Pleven 1987 and Sarajevo 1988 tournaments. Although registered with the Croatian Federation, he...
, Igor Lysyj
Igor Lysyj
Igor Lysyj is a Russian chess grandmaster.In 2006 he tied for first place, with Roman Ovetchkin of Russia, in the Zudov Memorial. he tied for 1st-8th with Sergey Volkov, Dmitry Bocharov, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Valerij Popov, Denis Khismatullin, Dmitry Andreikin and Dmitry Kokarev in the Voronezh...
, while the second has never enjoyed popularity among top-flight players.
Described by John Donaldson
William John Donaldson
William John Donaldson is an International Master of chess. He has been an IM since 1983. He is also an author, organizer, journalist and chess politician...
as "the ever inventive creator of novelties", he has made a number of other notable innovations, including:
- 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.Ra2;
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nd3;
- 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 e4 5.Ng5 Ng4.
Nadanian has contributed analysis to many chess publications throughout the world including the Chess Informant
Chess Informant
Chess Informant is a publishing company from Belgrade that periodically produces a book of the same name, as well as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings, Opening Monographs, other print publications, and software Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a...
, New In Chess Yearbook
New In Chess
New In Chess is a chess magazine that appears eight times a year with chief editors International Grandmaster Jan Timman and Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam. It contains notes by top players and chess prodigies on their own games...
, 64
64 (chess magazine)
The magazine 64 is a Russian chess and draughts publication, published in Moscow. Its name refers to the number of squares on a chessboard. The magazine awards the Chess Oscar annually.-History:...
, Kaissiber and Szachy Chess. He is a columnist for the Chessville.com website and has also written for ChessBase
ChessBase
ChessBase GmbH is a German company that markets chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates a server for online chess. Set up in 1998, it maintains and sells massive databases, containing most historic games, that permit analysis that had not been possible prior to computing...
and the Armenian Chess Academy website.
Chess coach and second
After Nadanian graduated from the Armenian State Institute of Physical CultureArmenian State Institute of Physical Culture
Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture is a high-education institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1945 and prepares trainers, sports journalists, specialists in kinesiology and adaptive physical training...
in 1994, he became a chess trainer. At 26 he became the youngest Honoured Coach of Armenia
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for athletes. The classification was established in 1935 and was based on separate classifications, which existed for several sports disciplines before...
. Among his students are Grandmasters Gabriel Sargissian, Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian is an Armenian-American Grandmaster of chess, originally from Armenia, who now resides in Los Angeles.He became an International Master at age 16...
and Davit G. Petrosian
Davit G. Petrosian
Davit G. Petrosian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster .In 2006 he won the B section of the Aeroflot Open. In 2008 he came first in the Autumn-1 Alushta tournament and in the first league of the Armenian Chess Championship....
. He has also occasionally helped GM Tigran L. Petrosian
Tigran L. Petrosian
Tigran L. Petrosian is an Armenian chess player who holds the title of grandmaster . His first name was deliberately chosen by his father to match the name of the former world champion Tigran V. Petrosian who was also of Armenian descent...
.
From December 1999 until August 2001, he worked as the National Team Coach of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
. Between 2005 and 2010, he was the National Coach of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
Men's Team.
In 2007, Nadanian was awarded the title of FIDE Trainer.
At the "Full English Breakfast" website (thefeb.com, podcast #7 Part 1), Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
refers to Nadanian as his friend and second. Unable to accompany Aronian to the 2011 Wijk aan Zee tournament, they maintained daily contact online.
During the entire month of February 2011, Nadanian, together with a team of five grandmasters—Wang Hao
Wang Hao (chess player)
Wang Hao is a Chinese chess Grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang Hao became the fourth ever Chinese player to cross the 2700 Elo rating mark. He is the reigning Chinese Chess Champion, with a ranking of No. 1 in China, No. 2 in Asia behind Viswanathan Anand and No. 19 in the world...
, Movsesian
Sergei Movsesian
Sergei Movsesian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster who used to play for Slovakia, but as of late 2010, Movsesian announced that he plays for his home country of Armenia...
, Sargissian, Pashikian
Arman Pashikian
Arman Pashikian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster. He was the Armenian Youth Champion in 1997 and 1998, winning also a silver medal in 1999 and in 2001 . He also took the fourth place in the European Championship. In 2003 Pashikian shared the first two places in the Armenian Chess Championship...
and Melkumyan
Hrant Melkumyan
Hrant Melkumyan is an Armenian chess Grandmaster. He won the international Internet championship organized by the ICC chess Internet portal. In 2006, he won the U18 silver medal at the World Youth Chess Championship. In 2009, he tied for 1st-5th with Sergey Volkov, Andrey Rychagov, Andrei...
—held training camp in Tsaghkadzor, helping Aronian to prepare for the Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
of the World Chess Championship 2012 cycle. At the 2011 Crestbook KC-Conference Aronian noted: "Lots of players are involved in my team, but Ashot Nadanian is absolutely irreplaceable. Besides the work he does himself he manages the whole process, while also planning training sessions."
Nadanian once said in an interview that one of the joyful events of his life was the ending of the Turin Olympiad
37th Chess Olympiad
The 37th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open and women's tournament and the general assembly of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs , took place between 20 May and 6 June 2006, in Turin, Italy.-Open tournament:...
in 2006, when his student Sargissian became Olympic champion with the Armenian team and his other student Akobian won bronze with the U.S. team. At the next Olympiad in Dresden
38th Chess Olympiad
The 38th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between 12–25 November 2008, in Dresden, Germany and was won by Armenia.The 2010 Olympiad is...
the story repeated itself: Sargissian won team gold medal and Akobian won team bronze.
Other chess activities and hobbies
One of Nadanian's hobbiesHobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
along with reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
and watching classical piano performances is chess composition. His first puzzle
Chess problem
A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...
appeared in 1986 and since that time he has composed about fifty studies and puzzles, of which he considers only ten or twelve to be good. He is particularly attracted by the problems, where in a final position White wins with a king and knights only. Whilst two knights cannot force checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
against a lone king, they can do so in some exceptional cases when the defender has pawns or other pieces. This idea is most clearly embodied in the highly original Nadanian's problem with seven knights (see diagram at right). In December 2009, ChessBase
ChessBase
ChessBase GmbH is a German company that markets chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates a server for online chess. Set up in 1998, it maintains and sells massive databases, containing most historic games, that permit analysis that had not been possible prior to computing...
published three of Nadanian's puzzles on "knights theme", calling him "a hippophile chess composer."
A chess book collector, Nadanian has a private library
Chess libraries
Chess libraries are library collections of books and periodicals on the game of chess.Chess has a very extensive literature, probably exceeding that of all other games combined....
of more than a thousand volumes.
He also plays correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
.
Family
Nadanian lives in YerevanYerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. He married Evelina Zakharian since 1999, and they have a daughter Kiti (born 2004 in Moscow) and a son Vigen (born 2010 in Singapore). When asked in an interview whether being a father negatively affects his chess career, Nadanian replied, "I do not know, but even if that would be true, I'll never be sorry. Kiti and Vigen are more important to me than all my chess achievements put together."
Relationships
In the same interview Nadanian said that he has "perfect relations with virtually all Armenian top players", stressing that the closest are Levon AronianLevon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
, Gabriel Sargissian, Ara Minasian, Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian is an Armenian-American Grandmaster of chess, originally from Armenia, who now resides in Los Angeles.He became an International Master at age 16...
and Andranik Matikozian. Nadanian also said that during the Linares Open of 1998 his friend Levon Aronian joked that Nadanian ate cat food. When in 2004 Nadanian named his daughter Kiti, Aronian replied, "See? I told you that it was 'Whiskas'!"
Notable games
Nadanian–Sakaev, ICC 2001
The game was played between Nadanian (WhiteWhite and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
) and the former Russian champion
Russian Chess Championship
-Imperial Russia:In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin, defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879...
, Konstantin Sakaev
Konstantin Sakaev
Konstantin Sakaev is a Russian chess Grandmaster , from St Petersburg and Russian Champion in 1999. He is also a chess writer. Sakaev is on the staff of the Grandmaster Chess School in St...
(Black
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
) on the Internet Chess Club
Internet Chess Club
The Internet Chess Club is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC currently has over 30,000 subscribing members...
server in 2001. It was annotated by Tibor Karolyi in his Genius in the Background book (2010) and by Lubomir Kavalek in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
on January 4, 2010:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4 White preventing c7–c5 and threatening 6.e4. 5...Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.Nf3 f5?! This weakens the kingside. 9.exf5 gxf5 10.Nxb6 axb6 11.Bc4+ Kh8? Yet another mistake; 11...e6 is correct. 12.Ng5! Opens the diagonal for the queen to reach the h-file. 12...Qe8 13.Bf7!! Kavalek writes, "A shocking deflection allowing the white queen to join the attack." 13...Rxf7 14.Qh5 Kg8 After 14...Bf6 15.Nxf7+ Kg7 16.Qh6+! Kxf7 17.Qh5+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ White wins. 15.Qxh7+ Kf8 16.Ne6+!! Karolyi writes, "This is a truly ferocious shot". 16...Bxe6 17.Bh6! Black has no defense against 18.Qh8 checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
. 1–0
Karolyi proclaims, "A particularly striking example to showcase Ashot's brilliant attacking play."
Wu Shaobin–Nadanian, Singapore 2006
The following game was played between the former member of China's Olympiad team
China at the Chess Olympiads
The People's Republic of China first competed at the Chess Olympiads in 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The women's team began competing in 1980. "Men's" teams in the Olympiads can include female players...
GM Wu Shaobin
Wu Shaobin
Wu Shaobin is a Singaporean Grandmaster chess player. He won the national Singaporean Chess Championship in 2003 and 2005. He is married to former Women's World Chess Champion Xie Jun....
(White
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
) and Nadanian (Black
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
) at Singapore 2006:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Be2 Ncxe5 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.0-0 0-0 9.b3 Re8 10.Bb2 a5 Well-known plan in this position, introduced by the IM Dolfi Drimer in 1968, with which Black develops the a8 rook along the sixth rank using the Ra8–a6–h6 manoeuvre. 11.Nc3 Ra6 12.Ne4 Ba7 13.Ng3 Qh4 14.Nf5 Qg5!? This was a new move. Before had been played 14...Qe4. 15.Nd4 Rg6 16.g3 d5?! 18...Qh6 was stronger. 17.cxd5? White should have played 17.Nb5! 17...Bh3! 18.Re1 Ng4 19.Nf3 Qxe3! Karolyi writes, "This shows Kasparov-like aggression and ingenuity." 20.Bd4 Qxf2+!! 21.Bxf2 Bxf2+ 22.Kh1 Bb6 23.Qb1? White should have defended with 23.Rf1! After 23...Ne3 24.Qd3 Bg2+ 25.Kg1 Bh3 White can either repeat moves
Threefold repetition
In chess and some other abstract strategy games, the threefold repetition rule states that a player can claim a draw if the same position occurs three times, or will occur after their next move, with the same player to move. The repeated positions need not occur in succession...
with 26.Kh1, or try 26.Nd4. 23...Nf2+ 24.Kg1 Rf6! Black has time to increase the pressure. 25.b4! If 25.Qc2?, then 25...Ng4+ 26.Kh1 Bg2+! winning the queen. 25...a4! But not 25...Rxf3? 26.bxa5 26.Ng5 Ng4+! 27.Kh1 Bg2+!! "This is a marvellous move, and it must have been such a thrill to play it on the board." (Karolyi). 28.Kxg2 Rf2+ 29.Kh3 Rxh2+ 30.Kxg4 h5+ 31.Kf4 Be3+ 0–1