Chess Grandmaster Melik Khachiyan
U.S. National Olympiad Chess Team Coach
The Strongest Active Chess Player and Chess Teacher in California
Thank you for visiting the official web site of GM Melik Khachiyan, a professional chess player and chess coach since 1990.
Among his own early coaches was the former World Champion, Tigran Petrosian, in an odd coincidence, one of GM's students is also named after that great player.
Another former student, GM Levon Aronian, says "...it was Khachiyan who took me as a third-category player and made me an IM."
Grandmaster Khachiyan's student roster also includes some of the top junior players in US, including 2010 World Youth Champion IM Steven Zierk and the #1 U13 player NM Kayden Troff.
Apr 29, 2012 Several young students of GM Melik Khachiyan have performed well in 2012 National Junior High School Championships in San Diego, California, including Experts Craig Hilby and Jackson Chen, both tied for #3 in K8 section. More Info >>
Apr 21, 2012 GM Melik Khachiyan participated in the Master-Junior Simul event sponsored by Sean Reader's Fund, together with IM Ambartsoumian, IM Motikozyan, IM Sevillano and 2 dozen active chess juniors in Southern California. More Info >>
Apr 2, 2012 GM Melik Khachiyan mentioned in an interview that for the rest of 2012, he would focus on chess teaching. Many of GM Khachiyan's chess pupils have enjoyed steady improvements recently. Several younger ones in US have performed well in state level scholastic tournaments and have earned their rights in the 2012 national scholastic invitational events. Related Info >>
Feb 21, 2012 GM Melik Khachiyan won The Recession Buster Open in San Diego, California along with GM Kaidanov and IM Raymond Kaufman. More Info >>
Dec 31, 2011 US Chess League announced the winners for its 2011 Game of the Year Contest, amongst which, the game GM Melik Khachiyan won with black against one of top 10 players of world, GM Nakamura was commented as the biggest upset in USCL history. More Info >>
Oct 9, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan won the 8th Annual Los Angeles Open with a strong 4.5-0.5 score against opponents of an average rating above 2450. GM Khachiyan's USCF rating performance in this tournament was 2861! The Los Angeles Open was held in California as a part of the National Chess Day weekend in US. More Info >>
Sep 26, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan scored an exceptional win over GM Chirila in the week 5 match of US Chess League and captured the GOTW contest of week. He led the Los Angeles Vibe Chess Team to defeat Dallas Destiny by 3.5-0.5. More Info >>
Aug 12, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan, GM Michael Adams (formerly #4 in the World) and GM Loek Van Wely (formerly #10 in the world) held an Chess Camp in Los Angeles, CA, hosted by LA Metro Chess Club. Attendees included NM Kayden Troff, NM Michael Brown (2011 US Middle School Invitational Champion) and super chess prodigy NM Samuel Sevian. More Info >>
Jul 1, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan and other strong chess masters held a summer chess camp in Glendale, CA organized by American Chess Association. The camp attracted some of the most active chess juniors in SoCal and other regions. See video here >>
May 15, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan participated in the 2011 Sean Reader Master-Junior Simul chess promotion event. On the same day, he also commentated in the Sean Reader FIDE Invitational tournament at Los Angeles Metro Chess Club. In this tournament, GM Khachiyan's student, 13 year-old NM Troff earned an IM-norm. More Info >>
Apr 24, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan played in Far West Open 2011 in Reno, Nevada and took 2nd place with no losses. His star student Steve Zierk took the 1st place of this tournament, winning all his games except one draw with his coach GM Khachiyan. GM Khachiyan's other students such as NM Akobian and NM Troff also did well in Far West Open. 12 year-old NM Troff had remarkable results drawing GM Kudrin and beating 10 year-old prodigy NM Sevian. More Info >>
Jan 20, 2011 GM Melik Khachiyan scored second place in Jimmy Quon Memorial international tournament in Los Angeles, CA with no losses. More Info >>
Dec 26, 2010 GM Melik Khachiyan conducted the 14th session of US Chess School in Los Angeles, CA for some of the strongest young players in the country. More Info >>
Nov 29, 2010 GM Melik Khachiyan Tied for first place in 46th Annual American Open tournament in Los Angeles, CA. More Info >>
Oct 04, 2010 GM Melik Khachiyan led the 2010 US Women's Olympiad Team to capture 5th place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. More Info >>
