My sister taught me chess

Levon Aronyan – “After every defeat I wonder if I’ll ever be able to play chess again”
Shoushan Stepanyan
December 08, 2008

Hetq – On November 25th Armenia’s chess team won its second consecutive championship during the final round of play at the 38th International Chess Olympiad held in Dresden, Germany. Armenia was represented at the tournament by Grandmasters Levon Aronyan, Gabriel Sargsyan, Vladimir Hakopyan, Tigran Petrosyan and Artashes Minasyan. The following is a set of observations on the chess champions prepared by Hetq reporters.

“Levon is a modest guy and friendly. It is difficult to have amassed that many victories and still remain an average person. Even though he’s a champion, he’s very easy to get along with.” This is how Levon Aronyan is described by Gabriel Sargsyan, a member of the victorious Armenian chess squad.

It all started for Levon like it does for all chess players; he had his first coach Grandmaster Melikset Khachatryan. Levon really appreciates the man who taught Levon to play blitz chess at an early age. The most important talent that Levon learnt from his first coach was to think fast. However, as Levon points out, “Here and there I lose when I think too fast, it can be a hindrance.”

It was Arshak Petrosyan who initiated Levon into a period of revelation regarding the world of chess. “He helped me to learn what is mine in the game and what isn’t,” Levon says. In addition to the coaches, the other and most important factor that assisted Levon in his budding chess career was his sister. “I was in Belarus with my sister, at some chess competitions, but it was my sister who was playing. She noticed that I was getting bored and decided to teach me to play chess. That’s how I got interested in the game.” All the while Levon’s father, a physicist by profession, and his mother, an engineer, both desired that Levon chose his own career path. If they held out any hopes of their own for Levon, they soon went up in smoke, because time marched forward and people changed. “When you play a lot and get better every time, your attitude towards the game changes. Over time I started to think not only about my moves, but the moves of my opponents.”

Before every game Levon gets excited, especially when it’s a team match. “I also get excited when I’ve suffered a defeat before the match. After every defeat I wonder if I will be able to play chess again” In order not to lose you must really practice a lot. It’s the rule of the sport, but here Levon can be a bit lazy. “Without practice you won’t be successful but I practice more when I have free time on my hands. I don’t practice much at home but I do practice 4-5 hours a day before each tournament,” says the Olympiad champ. Gabriel also observes that, “He’s not really lazy but he doesn’t train a lot. Instead, he is constantly reading or listening to music. He always finds something interesting to pass the time.” Levon says that listening to music is a must. “Before every game I have to listen to some music; classical, jazz, whatever,” relates Levon Aronyan. Interestingly enough, Levon used to play the piano as a young boy; and now? Levon laughs and says, “No, I gave it up and preferred chess.”

Here is the full article.