Karen Ashotovich Grigorian (7 September 1947 – 30 October 1989) was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master, and son of the poet Ashot Grashi. Born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia, Grigorian won the

Armenian 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 beca ...

three times (joint winner 1969, winner 1971, joint winner 1972), and the

Moscow City Chess Championship This is a list of the winners of the Moscow City Chess Championship from 1899 to date. From 1921 to 1924 Nikolai Grigoriev voluntarily defended his title in matches against other challengers. : References * (results through 1985) *Popovsky, Alexe ...

twice (1975, 1979). He also participated in six

USSR Chess Championship The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. ...

s between 1971 and 1977, with his best performances being at the 1973

s, in which he finished at the 7th-8th place. He was awarded the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

title in 1982. Grigorian's trainers included

Lev Aronin Lev Solomonovich Aronin (russian: Лев Соломонович Аронин; 20 July 1920, Kuibyshev – 4 October 1982, Moscow) was a Soviet International Master of chess. He was a meteorologist by profession. Early years Lev Solomonovich ...

, and he was friends with the Latvian chess master Alvis Vītoliņš. Grigorian and Vitolins were excellent blitz players, but both also suffered from psychiatric disorders. At the age of 42, Grigorian committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by jumping from the highest bridge in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. His brother Levon Grigorian was also a chess player and won several chess championships.

References

External links

*
Grandmaster Games Database – Karen Grigorian
* ''Russian Silhouettes'' (3rd ed, 2009,

Genna Sosonko Gennadi "Genna" Sosonko (russian: Геннадий Борисович Сосонко, ''Gennady Borisovich Sosonk''o; born 18 May 1943) is a Soviet-born Dutch chess player and writer. He has been awarded the title Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE and is a ...

), Chapter 10: The Jump – Alvis Vitolins 1947 births 1989 suicides Sportspeople from Moscow Armenian chess players Russian chess players Soviet chess players Chess International Masters Russian people of Armenian descent Suicides by jumping in Armenia Suicides in the Soviet Union 20th-century chess players {{Armenia-chess-bio-stub