IMAshot Nadanian

Ashot Nadanian learned chess from his father at seven and trained with Rafael Sarkisov in Baku. He won Azerbaijan's under-sixteen championship in 1986 and 1987 before his family fled to Armenia during the conflict that began in 1988. After graduating from the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture in 1994, he began coaching. His pupils included future grandmasters Gabriel Sargissian, Varuzhan Akobian and Davit Petrosian. Nadanian played in the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad and became an international master in 1997. He subsequently earned two grandmaster norms in Moscow. His opening research produced named variations in the Grünfeld Defence and Queen's Pawn Opening. He coached Kuwait's national team and later Singapore's, where he also worked with Daniel Fernandez. In 2011 he became a regular second to Levon Aronian. He received the FIDE Senior Trainer title in 2017 and wrote extensively about opening theory, while also composing chess problems.