Ashot Nadanian (sometimes transliterated as Nadanyan; Armenian: Աշոտ Նադանյան; Russian: Ашот Наданян; born September 19, 1972) is an Armenian chess International Master (1997), chess theoretician and chess coach.
His highest achievements have been in opening theory and coaching. Two opening variations are named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening. He began coaching at the age of 22 and has brought up three grandmasters. He has coached the national teams of Kuwait and Singapore and was awarded the titles Honoured Coach of Armenia in 1998 and FIDE Trainer in 2007. Since 2011, he has been a permanent second of Levon Aronian.
Although a strong player who competed in the 1996 Chess Olympiad and narrowly failed to qualify for the 1999 FIDE World Chess Championship, he has never fulfilled his potential. According to Valery Chekhov, Nadanian "possesses enormous chess potential, but he was not able to find enough time to work professionally on his chess." Levon Aronian said that due to the situation in Armenia, Nadanian "was not able to display even one-tenth of his playing talent."
Due to his imaginative attacking style, Nadanian has been described as a "brilliant eccentric", the "Armenian Tal" and "Kasparov's half-brother". The sixth chapter of Tibor Karolyi's 2009 book Genius in the Background is devoted to Nadanian.
Read more about Ashot Nadanian: Early Years, Chess Career, Playing Strength and Style, Chess Theoretician, Chess Coach and Second, Personal Life, Notable Games, See Also