"It is not enough to be a good player... you must also play well"
--Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934)
Medical Doctor and one of the strongest chess players
of the late 19th century and early 20th century.

"You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps.
Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it.
But what Chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly
and think about whether it’s really a good idea
and whether there are other better ideas"
--Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
Director, Producer, and avid Chess player.

GM Melik Khachiyan
Email: askgm@gmmelik.com
or meliksetk@hotmail.com
Cell: (323) 715-8484

• Grand Master Melik Khachiyan
• GM Melik's Lesson Schedule
• About gmmelik.com
• Information on GM Melik's Events and Appearances Events
• MidKnight Kibitzer, Chess Magazine
• Lola Nunn

Chess Grand Master Melik Khachiyan

GM Melik Khachiyan has been playing and coaching chess professionally since 1990. Among his own early coaches was the former World Champion, Tigran Petrosian. In an odd coincedence, one of Melik's students is named after that great player. Another former student, GM Levon Aronian, says "...it was Khachian who took me as a third-category player and made me an IM."

On the way to becoming a Grand Master, Melik competed in elite chess tournaments all over Eastern Europe and the Mid East. One of his noteworthy opponents was Boris Spassky in Teheran, Iran. That game is featured in Melik's first book, which he expects to finish by Summer 2007. GM Melik's best games can be reviewed at My Best Games. You can learn more about GM Melik's accomplishments at the following links: biography or his Lifetime Achievements.

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GM Melik is available for private and semi-private lessons.

Contact GM Melik for details at: lessons@gmmelik.com or Cell: (323) 715-8484

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The critical thinking required to play Chess has been scientifically proven to benefit both the developing brains of children and the mature brains of adults in the form of problem solving and other mental stimulation.

Los Angeles based Chess Grand Master Melik Khachiyan, working in cooperation with Lola Nunn, created this website to share with you his reverence for chess and unique analytical insight of the game.

Whether you are just beginning to learn how to play chess or are a tournament player, mark this website as one of your "Favorites". If you are a "Kibitzer" or a social player, you'll gain a better understanding of chess with GM Melik's annotated games in MidKnight Kibitzer.

This website offers:

• Chess Games annotated by GM Melik (Page under construction, debuting soon.)
• Games and puzzles (Page under construction, debuting soon.)

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Check out our "Events" for noteworthy announcements and news about GM Melik.

August 2, 2008- GM Melik will compete in the San Diego County Championship this coming weekend, August 9 & 10. He will give a lecture and simul on Friday, August 8. Contact Chuck Ensey chucnglo@aol.com for more information.

Two very nice recent games by GM Melik were featured in Jack Peters' August 3, 2008, Los Angeles Times Chess Column. "Magnus Carlsen, 17-year-old grandmaster, still pursues historic rating"

July 27, 2008- 2008 has been very hectic for GM Melik, so far. He has been very busy competing in several national and local tournaments. Please check out his game analysis from the 13th Pacific Coast Open, Agoura Hills, CA, which finished July 20. GM Melik Annotates. GM Melik is also still coaching in person and online.

December 2, 2007- In an exclusive arrangement with Chess Palace, GM Melik is conducting small group lessons with 3-8 students grouped by rating. You can see a video preview of the lessons at: GMMelik on YouTube. This unique opportunity isn't offered by any other chess club. Take advantage and call Chess Palace at (714) 899-3421 to book your lessons now. The next session is Sunday, December 9.

A preview of GM Melik's 2 hour "How to Improve Your Tactics" lecture given at the 43 American Open on Thanksgiving Day 2007 can also be seen on the GMMelik YouTube channel. Interested in purchasing a 2 DVD set of the entire lecture? Email: admin@gmmelik.com

August 18, 2007- This has been a very busy Spring and Summer competition season for GM Melik. Following his undefeated performance in the Frank K. Berry 2007 US Championship in Oklahoma in mid-May, he has been criss-crossing the USA in several tournaments. There was the Lina Grumette Memorial Day Tournament in Los Angeles, the National Open in Las Vegas in early June (where he defeated the new US Champion GM Alexander Shabalov), the World Open in King of Prussia, PA, on 4th of July weekend and, back to California, for the 12th Pacific Coast Open in Agoura Hills later in July. After taking clear 1st at the Pacific Coast Open, he also took clear 1st in the Edmonton International Invitational in Alberta, Canada, with another undefeated performance in that Category 4 round robin tournament. Jack Peters, the Chess Columnist for the Los Angeles Times, in his August 19, 2007, column has written a terrific recap of GM Melik's "great success" in the last year. You can read Jack's article at Another victory for Khachiyan. IM John Donaldson, director of the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco and a competitor in the Edmonton International Invitational, wrote a great article ( Melik Takes Edmonton) about the tournament for Chess Life Online on the USCF website. A selection of GM Melik's annotated games from his 2007 Tour can be found at GM Melik's 2007 Tour Games

June 9, 2007- Congratulations to GM Melik, who has just upset the newly crowned, reigning US Champion, GM Alexander Shabalov, in round 3 of the 2007 National Open. Melik played a beautiful game on the White side of the Sveshnikov Scilian. GM Shabalov, is a Sveshnikov specialist who has played many games with both White and Black in this variation of the Sicilian. Visit the official website to review the games at Monroi - Las Vegas International and click on the "Accept License Terms" button to review the game. The USCF website is covering the event, daily, with articles and game analysis by Jennifer Shahade at USCF Online.

June 9, 2007- GM Melik is currently competing in the National Open Tournament being held through June 11. He had two very nice wins today, which you can review at Monroi - Las Vegas International and click on the "Accept License Terms" button to view the Championship games. This is another particularly strong tournament, which has attracted many of the strongest players in the USA, including several who just competed in the US Championships, and several strong international GM's. The eternal favorite, GM Viktor Kortchnoi, is also playing this year. The USCF website is covering the event, daily, with articles and game analysis by Jennifer Shahade at USCF Online.

May 23, 2007- The Frank K. Berry 2007 US Championship, in Stillwater, OK is finished. GM Melik had an outstanding performance and gained 20 rating points. He was one only four of GM's participating to finish with no losses. Eight of the nine games he played were fought to a standstill against higher rated opponents, confirming his status as a very solid and active GM. He matched wits with some of the strongest players and held his own, even though he was considered a dark horse by some at the beginning of this tournament. You can review his analysis of his Round 2 draw with GM Varuzhan Akobian at GM Melik at the 2007 US Championship. All the games can be seen at Monroi - Frank K. Berry 2007 US Championship and click on the "Accept License Terms" button to view the Championship games. The USCF website is covering the event, daily, with articles and game analysis by Jennifer Shahade at USCF Online. Look for more analysis from GM Melik soon.

April 22, 2007- Melik has started his 2007 tour by winning the 7th Far West Open held April 6-8 in Reno, Nevada. The Far West was the 1st of a series of tournaments, including the US Championships, that Melik will compete in this spring and summer. Two of Melik's annotated games from the Far West on MidKnight Kibitzer later this week.

February 12, 2007- The 2007 United States Amateur Team West will be held this coming weekend, February 17-19. The location is the same as 2006, the Double Tree Hotel San Pedro, on the Los Angeles Port Marina.

For the first time, MidKnight Kibitzer is adding Team Photo Packages to the prize fund. A free package, a $50 value, of five 8x10 photos will be awarded to each of the following teams:

• Best Team Name
• Top Team, Scholastic
• Top Team, Under 1200
• Top Team, Junior (Under age 18)

Contact Lola Nunn at the site on Saturday or Sunday or at 323-893-4154 to sign up your team for photos.

January 15, 2007- GM Melik has tied for 1st with IM Andranik Matikozyan in the 2007 Western Class Championships. The tournament took place at the beautiful Renaissance Agoura Hills Hotel on January 12-15, 2007. Playing in the 2 day section, GM Melik's score was 5.5-1.5. Among the top players at the tournament were GM Alex Yermolinky of San Francisco, posing here on right for a photo taken after their tough drawn game.

December 3, 2006- The 42 Annual American Open was held November 23-26, 2006, at the LAX Renaissance Hotel. GM Melik Khachiyan and IM David Pruess tied for 1st with 6 points each. Other elite participants were GM's Eugene Perelshtyen, Alex Yermolinsky (San Francisco), Ian Rogers (Australia), and Dashzegve Sharavdorj. Local strong players IM Enrico Sevillano, Joel Banawa and Eugene Yanayt (GM Melik student) put in strong performances to tie for 3rd with 5 points each. Ike Miller, another LA area player won the U2200 section with 6.5 points.

Look for GM Melik's annotated games featured very soon on MidKnight Kibitzer. Final standings and games in .pgn format can be found at http://www.americanopen.org. Also check out GM Ian Rogers' article at Chess Life's online magazine.

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The idea behind the creation of MidKnight Kibitzer began in October, 2004, as a one page photo layout to prove that people really were playing chess in the Glendale Chess Park. Soon after, Lola began photographing the Friday Night Blitz tournaments in the park and publishing the results. The single page became two and it wasn't long before it grew into an eight page chess magazine covering Los Angeles area tournaments. GM Melik Khachian started contributing a monthly column in 2006. This desktop published magazine continues to improve and grow and is now branching out to a web edition, as well. The new web version of MidKnight Kibitzer will be up soon.

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Lola Nunn is a photojournalist and a amateur chess player of about USCF 1600 strength. She has been an avid photographer for many years and her interest in chess led her to begin photographing chess players. In 2004, she began publishing what was to become the MidKnight Kibitzer. You can see Lola's resume here.

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