GAVAR, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Samuel Sevian, our compatriot representing USA and the youngest participant of the International Chess Tournament held in Martuni of Gegharkunik region, shared his impressions with Armenpress.

Samuel Sevian noted:

“My failure – holding the penultimate place, is mainly conditioned by the extremely high class of my competitors. They were really very strong and I learnt a lot from these meetings. I could have shown higher results but for the irrelevant mistakes I made.”    

The Armenian-American Gradnmaster asked to deliver his request to Rafik Grigoryan, the governor of Gegharkunik, the President of Chess Federation of Gegharkunik.  

Rafik Grigoryan announced at the closing ceremony:

“Our compatriot Samuel Sevian asks me if the Martuni Tournament will be held again next year and whether he can participate in it again. I ensure you as the governor of Gegharkunik and the President of Chess Federation of Gegharkunik that the Tournament will be held again and Samuel can participate and fight for the title of the champion.”  

Khosrov Khlghatyan

Samuel Sevian (born December 26, 2000) is an American chess prodigy. He was born in Corning, New York. 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. He has also broken age records for reaching the National Expert and Master titles.

Sevian was World Champion for U12s in 2012.

Sevian was born to Armenian parents. Sevian started to play chess when he was 5. His first success came when he became the youngest Expert in USCF history, an achievement that was featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times by International Master Alexiou Koutsoudis. On December 9, 2010, Sevian became the youngest National Master in USCF history. In 2012, Sevian completed all International Master norms in the space of 6 months, during three Metropolitan FIDE IM Invitational events. He eventually became an International Master after crossing the 2400 FIDE rating mark during a tournament in Budapest in November 2013, setting a new US record of 12 years 10 months.

He became the World Champion in the U12 category in Maribor, Slovenia, November 7–19, 2012. In May 2013, Sevian was invited to play in the U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis as the youngest ever participant. The field consisted of 24 players and Sevian scored 4/9, which placed him in shared 14th place ahead of several grandmasters. Sevian became a Grandmaster at 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days, a new US record. After completing GM Norms at the Foxwoods Open in January, Saint Louis GM Invitational in May and Washington International in August 2014, he completed the requirements for the title by achieving a 2500 FIDE rating during the Saint Louis GM Norm Invitational tournament, which he won with 7.5/9.

He took part in the Tata Steel Challengers event in January 2015, sharing fifth and sixth with 7.5/13 points.

Sevian shared fifth place in the US Chess Championships, beating Wesley So, a world top ten ranked player, and drawing with Hikaru Nakamura as well as defending champion Gata Kamsky. This performance earned him a spot in the 2015 Chess World Cup.