Although a strong player, who competed in the Chess Olympiad of 1996 and narrowly failed to qualify for the FIDE World Chess Championship of 1999, 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."[1]

Due to his imaginative attacking style, Nadanian has been described as a "brilliant eccentric",[2] the "Armenian Tal"[3] and "Kasparov's half-brother".[1] To him is devoted the sixth chapter of Tibor Karolyi's 2009 book Genius in the Background.

Chess career:  He played in the Soviet Union Junior Chess Championships of 1987,[4] 1988[5] and 1989,[6] in the Armenian Chess Championships of 1997, 1998 and 1999,[7] in the 32nd Chess Olympiad in Yerevan 1996,[8] in the first European Individual Chess Championship in Saint-Vincent 2000[9] and in the Zonal tournament in Panormo 1998, where he shared 7th-11th places among 72 participants,[10] with the first four going to Las Vegas FIDE World Chess Championship 1999.

Other notable performances:

• Częstochowa Open, Poland, 1992 – 1st-2nd;[11]

• Tbilisi, Georgia, 1996 – 1st;[12]

• Pasanauri Open, Georgia, 1997 – 1st-2nd;

• New York Open Championship ("B"), USA, 1998 – 4th-7th;[13]

• Aeroflot Open ("A"), Moscow, Russia, 2002 – 35th (one of the strongest open tournaments of all times, with 82 grandmasters out of 132 participants);[14]

• Goldberg Memorial, Moscow, Russia, 2004 – 2nd-3rd;[15]

• IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2006 – 6th-10th;[16]

• ASEAN Masters Circuit GMB, Tarakan, Indonesia, 2008 – 2nd-3rd;[17]

• IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2008 – 3rd-7th;[18]

• Korea Open chess tournament, Seoul, South Korea, 2008 – 6th-10th.[19]

Playing strength and style:  According to Chessmetrics, at his peak in October 2003 Nadanian's play was equivalent to a rating of 2568, and he was ranked number 216 in the world. His best single performance was at Moscow Aeroflot Open, 2002, where he scored 5 of 9 possible points (56%) against 2628-rated opposition, for a performance rating of 2636.[20]

On the March 2010 FIDE list his Elo rating is 2433.  He has two grandmaster norms.[1]

Nadanian has an imaginative and adventurous style of playing, and even his mistakes, according to Tibor Karolyi, "contain elements of creativity".[1] 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,[21] Budapest Gambit).[22]

Kingpin magazine called him "a brilliant eccentric".[2] Tibor Karolyi devoted a chapter to him in his 2009 book Genius in the Background and jokingly called him "Kasparov's Half-Brother", implying not only that both Kasparov and Nadanian had the same trainer in Alexander Shakarov, but also the similarities of 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".[1]

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."[1]

Theoretician:

Nadanian Variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4

Nadanian is best known for his contribution to opening theory, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4)[23][24] and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5).[25][26]

Described by John Donaldson as "the ever inventive creator of novelties",[27] 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;[28]

• 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.[29]

He has contributed analysis to many chess publications throughout the world including the Chess Informant, New In Chess Yearbook, 64, Kaissiber, Szachy Chess.

Coach:  Having graduated from the chess department of Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture in 1994, Nadanian carries out an activity of a trainer. He is the youngest Honoured Coach of Armenia (the title awarded when he was 26 years old). Among his students are Grandmasters Gabriel Sargissian,[1] Varuzhan Akobian[30] and Davit G. Petrosian.[31] He has also occasionally helped GM Tigran L. Petrosian.[32]

From December 1999 until August 2001, he worked in Kuwait as the National Team Coach of this country.[33] Since March 2005, he is the National Coach of Singapore Men's Team.[34]

In 2007, Nadanian was awarded the title of FIDE Trainer.[35]

Notable games:  Below is an excerpt from an article by Lubomir Kavalek in The Washington Post on January 4, 2010:[36]

The following Grunfeld Indian encounter between the imaginative Armenian International Master Ashot Nadanian and the former Russian champion, Konstantin Sakaev, was played on the Internet in 2005.[37]

Nadanian-Sakaev

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4 (Nadanian's invention against the Grunfeld Indian. White avoids the knight exchange, threatening 6.e4 and preventing c7-c5 at the same time.) 5...Bg7 (After this normal developing move, Nadanian's idea clicks. Perhaps the only way to punish the white knight's venture to the edge of the board is to strike in the center with 5...e5 6.dxe5 Nc6 and the black pieces fly out quickly.) 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.Nf3 f5?! (Attacking the white center this way is too optimistic. It exposes the black king.) 9.exf5 gxf5 10.Nxb6 axb6 11.Bc4+ Kh8? (Black had to play 11...e6, but he most likely underestimated the force of white's attack.) 12.Ng5! Qe8 13.Bf7!! (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+ wins.) 15.Qxh7+ Kf8 16.Ne6+!! (The knight sacrifice entombs the black king.) 16...Bxe6 17.Bh6 (A clincher! Black has no good defense against 18.Qh8 mate.) Black resigned.

Other notable games include:

• Ashot Nadanian vs Gabriel Sargissian ARM-ch 1999, English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (A30), 1-0

• Ashot Nadanian vs Smbat Lputian, ARM-ch 1999, Semi-Slav Defense: Stonewall Variation, Portisch Gambit (D31), 1-0

• Ashot Nadanian vs Zviad Izoria, Aeroflot Open 2002, Formation: King's Indian Attack (A07), 1-0

• Viktor Bologan vs Ashot Nadanian, Aeroflot Open 2002, Sicilian Defense: Paulsen-Basman Defense (B40), 0-1

• Wu Shaobin vs Ashot Nadanian, Singapore 2006, Budapest Gambit: Adler Variation (A52), 0-1

Other chess activities and hobbies:

One of Nadanian's hobbies 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.[38]  Whilst two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king, they can do so in some exceptional cases when the defender has other pieces and even a turn to move. This idea is most clearly embodied in the highly original Nadanian's problem with seven knights (see diagram at left).  In December 2009, ChessBase published three of Nadanian's puzzles on "knights theme", calling him "a hippophile chess composer."[39]

He also plays correspondence chess.[40][41]

Notes and references:

Further reading:  Karolyi, Tibor; Aplin, Nick (2009). Genius in the Background. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1906552-37-4.

External links:

• FIDE rating card for Ashot Nadanian

• Ashot Nadanian player profile at ChessGames.com

• Grandmaster Games Database - Ashot Nadanian

• Ashot Nadanian at 365Chess.com

• 224 Games at New In Chess

• Rating data

• Chessmetrics Player Profile: Ashot Nadanian