YEREVAN (Combined Sources)-Armenian Chess Grandmaster Karen Asrian died Monday after suddenly losing consciousness, the Armenian Chess Federation said.
An Olympic Champion, Asrian, 28, was the country’s reigning three time champion and had helped it win the 2006 Chess Olympiad.
Asrian was ranked 92nd by the World Chess Federation, or FIDE.
Apparently feeling ill, Asrian pulled his car into a courtyard in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, early Monday and lost consciousness, the Armenian Chess Federation said. An ambulance crew pronounced him dead at the scene, possibly of a heart attack, it said.
A moment of silence was held in his memory before the opening of a speed-chess tournament in Yerevan on Monday after his death was announced by Armenian player Smbat Lputian.