Karen Asrian, An Armenian Chest Grandmaster, 28

[PyrateJohn]

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) -- Karen Asrian, an Armenian chess grandmaster
who was the ex-Soviet nation's reigning champion and helped it win
the
2006 Chess Olympiad, has died after suddenly losing consciousness,
the
Armenian Chess Federation said. He was 28.


Asrian was ranked 92nd by the World Chess Federation, or FIDE.


Apparently feeling ill, Asrian pulled his car into a court yard in
the
Armenian capital, Yerevan, early Monday [June 9, 2008] and lost
consciousness, the Armenian Chess Federation said. An ambulance crew
pronounced him dead at the scene, 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.