Karen Asrian
| Karen Asrian | |
|---|---|
Asrian at EuroChess 2007
|
|
| Full name | Karen Asrian Կարեն Ասրյան |
| Country |
 Armenia
|
| Born | 24 April 1980 |
| Died | 9 June 2008 (aged 28) |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating |
(No. 92 on the April 2008 FIDE ratings list) |
| Peak rating | 2646 (January 2006) |
Karen Asrian (Armenian: Կարեն Ասրյան) (24 April 1980 – 9 June 2008) was an Armenian chess Grandmaster.
Asrian started playing chess in 1975 and became a Grandmaster in 1997. He graduated from Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture in 2001.
He won the Armenian Chess Championship in 1999, 2007, and 2008, and the Dubai 2001 and 2004 Tigran Petrosian Memorial tournaments. In 2006, Asrian competed on third board for the gold-medal winning Armenian team at the Chess Olympiad in Turin.
On 9 June 2008 the Armenian Chess Federation reported that Asrian had died of a suspected heart attack while driving, which was confirmed the following day. His final rating, in April 2008, was 2630.
On 9 June 2008, the Armenian Chess Federation reported that Asrian had died of a heart attack while driving. Asrian, feeling ill, pulled his car into a courtyard in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on an early Monday and then lost consciousness. An ambulance crew pronounced him dead at the scene, possibly of a heart attack. A moment of silence was held in his memory before the opening of a speed-chess tournament in Yerevan on Monday, after his death was announced by Armenian chess player Smbat Lputian.
Asrian received an open casket funeral on June 11 in the Yerevan Chess House. President of Armenia and the Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan, Chairman of Parliament of Armenia Tigran Torosyan, participants of the GM tournament held in Yerevan, and thousands of chess lovers were present at the funeral service.
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