2018 Summer Chess Classic

Robert Aghasaryan started playing chess in Yerevan, Armenia at the age of 6. He is a three time Armenian Youth Champion under the ages U10, U12 and U18. He won the U10 European Youth Chess Championship in 2004 and the U12 World Youth Chess Championship in 2006. He was part of the Armenian team which won the U16 Chess Olympiad in 2010. He became a Grandmaster in 2014.  He currently resides in Encino and is a Chess coach for the American Chess Academy. His most recent tournament win was the 2018 Western Class Championship in California

Peter Prohaszka was born in 1992 and grew up in Vac, Hungary. He was a permanent member of the Hungarian national youth chess team since age 13. He won the U14 Individual European Championship in 2006 in Herceg Novi. In 2007, he was a member of the Hungarian team that finished in 2nd place in Singapore at the U16 chess olympiad. He won multiple gold medals with the Hungarian team in European Championships. His most memorable performance in the European team championships was to score 6/7 in 2009 on board one, helping his team to victory. He scored his first GM-norm at the age of 14 and became a Grandmaster just before his 18th birthday. As an adult, he continued to perform successfully in international tournaments, as well as representing teams all over Europe. He won the Xtracon Open in 2014 and the Fano Chess Festival twice. Recently, in 2017, he tied for first at the prestigious  Benasque Open. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Prohaszka began his studies at Webster University, Saint Louis. He is a member of the prestigious Susan Polgar’s SPICE program, and represents the chess team in many major competitions. He speaks three languages fluently, Hungarian, English, and German. His rating is currently 2613 and he aspires to become an elite Chess Grandmaster while also graduating from Webster University.

Rinat developed his early chess career in 2011, including his participation at the World Cup and earning 1st place in Kazakhstan’s Chess Champion, men’s division. In 2013, he was 1st in Blitz at the Memorial Chigorin. In 2014, Rinat became 1st in Rapid at the Asian Nations Cup, and again placed 1st at the 2014 Kazakhstan Chess Championship for men. His next year was very busy, as he participated in the 2015 World Cup, was 3rd at the 2015 7th London Chess Classic FIDE Open, and took 3rd place in Classic and 1st place in Blitz at the 2015 RTU Open. Rinat’s  achievements continued in 2016 where he was 3rd in Classic at the Asian Nations Cup and 2nd in Rapid at the Biel Chess Open. Most recently, he placed first at the men’s Kazakhstan Championship 2017, took 3rd place at the 2017 Mikhail Tal Memorial Rapid, Yurmala, and earned 1st place at the 2017 Sants Open.

Sam Sevian is an American chess prodigy. He holds the record for the youngest ever United States Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days. He also holds the record for the youngest ever United States International Master at 12 years and 10 months; and the youngest National Master in USCF history at 9 years, 11 months, and 23 days. In 2012, he became World Champion in the U12 category. He achieved a 2500 FIDE rating during the Saint Louis GM Norm Invitational tournament with an impressive outcome of 7.5/9.

Sevian made his first appearance at the U.S. Chess Championships in Saint Louis, Missouri in 2013 as the youngest ever participant. There, Sevian placed in a shared 14th position out of 24 total players with a score of 4/9, beating out several grandmasters. He returned for another U.S. Chess Championships in 2015 and shared fifth place ahead of several well-known names in the chess world including Wesley So, a world top ten ranked player. His overall performance in the championship earned him a spot in the 2015 Chess World Cup.

Vasif started his chess career in 1999. He received the International Master title in 2007 and the International Grandmaster Title in 2010. His chess achievements include receiving second in the European Youth Chess Championship under 14 years old (Budva, Serbia) in 2006, winning the World Youth Chess Championship under 14 years old (Batumi, Georgia), and winning the European Youth Chess Championship under 18 years old (Batumi, Georgia) in 2010. Vaif has been part of SPICE chess program at Webster University since 2014 and has won three national titles with the team.

Benjamin Bok has been among Netherlands’ top players for a couple of years. His

first major success came in December 2015 by winning the London Chess Classic FIDE Open with 8/9. He debuted for the Dutch national team at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku and also represented his country at the 2017 European Team Championship on Crete. At the European Championship 2017, he earned a spot in the FIDE World Cup 2017 by finishing 15th. A year later, at the European Championship 2018, he repeated this success by finishing 18th and thus already secured his spot for the FIDE World Cup 2019. Benjamin hasn’t played in any tournaments in the U.S. before so the 2018 Summer Chess Classic will be his first; he hopes to bring some excitement to the Saint Louis Chess Club.

The Ukrainian-born GM earned his title at the age of fifteen.  Zherebukh says, “ My biggest success so far was the advancement to the fourth round at the 2011 World Cup in Russia.”  In 2015, ‘Yaro’ switched his affiliation with the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the USCF, granting him eligibility to be the wildcard in  the 2017 U.S. Championships. GM Zherebukh made his mark on the Saint Louis Chess Campus when he joined the Saint Louis Arch-Bishops, contributing to the team’s 2017 PRO Chess League Championship title.  This impressive young GM who has become a regular presence at the Saint Louis Chess Club is a fan favorite and is sure to give us some exciting chess in this year’s Championship.

Daniel Fridman is a German chess grandmaster. He was Latvian champion in 1996, as well as German champion in 2008, 2012 and 2014. His first major success in his early chess career was when he took home a bronze medal in the Under-16 category of the World Youth Chess Championship. Daniel is a master of speed chess and won first place at the Essen rapid contest of 2000 and Dutch Open rapid tourney of 2008. Outside of his personal successes, he represented the Latvian men's team on board 4 at the Yerevan Olympiad of 1996 and at the Pula 1997 European Team Chess Championship. He returned to the Olympiad team as first board in 2004 (Calvià) and in 2006 (Turin). After he became a German citizen, he switched chess federations and, as incumbent national champion in 2008, was an automatic choice for the German team at the Dresden Olympiad.

This seventeen-year old from Coppell, Texas has a quite an impressive list of results.  Showing a tenacity beyond his years he has won the 2015 Chicago Open, finished sixth in the 2016 U.S.Championship (the strongest in history), and was awarded the 2016 U.S. Outstanding Player Achievement Award by USCF.  Xiong, the winner of the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship is sure to give some of the seasoned veterans in this year’s field a run for their money.

The weather in Mongolia was so harsh during the years that “Var” spent there as a child, that his father forbade him and his sister Armine from playing outside.  He taught them chess, which fascinated the young Akobian. “From the very beginning,” Var says, “I was different from the other chess kids. It was never just a game for me.  I always wanted to be a Grandmaster, and knew that I would do what it takes.” As a teenager living in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, Akobian spent his days on chess and soccer.  His teachers encouraged him to focus on chess, so much that Var says: “If I went to high school in here [in the U.S], I never could have spent so much energy on chess.”

In 2002, a year after immigrating to the U.S., he earned the Samford Chess Fellowship.  The Fellowship grant, which allowed the young Var to study and improve his chess, yielded quick results with a tie for first at the 2002 World Open and First Place at the Irme Koenig GM invitational.  The following year, he won the 2003 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, earned his GM Norms in June 2004, and then won the World Open for a second time.

An excellent positional player, GM Akobian admires the games and style of Armenian Hero, former World Champion Tigran Petrosian.  He admires him so much so that he became an expert in the French Defence, one of Petrosians most played openings with the black pieces. Var offers this advice for aspiring club players: “Don’t expect to see constant improvement. You build knowledge and work hard, and after a while you’ll see a big breakthrough.”