A haunting funeral photo of the late Armenian GM Karen Asrian

Armenian Chess Organizers Paying their last respect

This is a photo of open coffin funeral of late Armenian Grandmaster Karen Asrian last June 11, in Yerevan Armenia. Asrian died suddenly of heart attack at a tender age of 28. He was one of the top chess players of Armenia and three time champion of his country. Among his major victories are the tournaments of Dubai 2001 and Stepanakert 2004. In 2006, Asrian won the Chess Olympiad in Turin as a member of Armenian team. He was playing on board three. The Armenian Chess Federation decided to interrupt the ongoing "Chess Giants Yerevan 2008" event for a few days, and then rename it to the "Karen Asrian Memorial".

Asrian was ranked 92nd by the World Chess Federation, or FIDE with a ELO rating of 2634.

Here is some of the chess games of Asrian

photo courtesy of chessbase.com