Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian is an Armenian-American Grandmaster who has won pretty much everything there is to win in chess except the World Championship. His list of accomplishments includes placing first in the World Championship in blitz (2010), rapid (2009) and Chess960 (2006, 2007). Aronian played first board on the Armenian teams which won gold medals in the 2006, 2008 and 2012 Chess Olympiads and the World Team Championship in 2011.

Aronian became a Grandmaster at 17 and joined the world’s elite a few years later, eventually reaching a peak FIDE rating of 2835, the fourth highest ever. His notable tournament achievements include winning the FIDE World Cup twice (2005, 2017), a feat matched only by Viswanathan Anand.

Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz (2019), during which he had a win and two draws against the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen. He also placed first in the prestigious WR Masters (2023), the American Cup (2024), the 2025 Freestyle Grand Slam Finals and most recently the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon.

Aronian won a team silver medal playing for the United States in the 2024 Chess Olympiad as well as an individual silver medal on board four. He will be representing the United States at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan this September.