Armenian chess player Levon Aronyan was born on 6 October 1982 in Yerevan. His sister Lilit taught him to play chess when he was 9. His first trainer was Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan. He first showed his talent in 1994 when he won the World Youth Chess Championship held in Szeged, Hungary. Peak World Ranking: 2 (January 2012). His current rating is 2784 (April 2016).

He participated in the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London. He finished fourth with +5-3=6 points. He also played in the 2015 Chess World Cup, which was the last qualifier for the 2016 Candidates Tournament. He was defeated by Grandmaster Alexander Areschenko in the second round. He still qualified as the Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan chose him as the organizer’s nominee.

He participated in six Chess Olympiads between 2004 and 2014 representing Armenia. In 1996 he was only reserve and he was not very successful. In 2004 he placed tenth while his team won bronze. In both 2006 and 2008 he won gold in team. In 2010 he won individual silver and in 2012 individual gold, just like his national team.