Karen Asrian | Chess champion, 28

Karen Asrian, 28, an Armenian chess grandmaster who was the former Soviet nation's reigning champion and helped it win the 2006 Chess Olympiad, died suddenly Monday after losing consciousness. He was ranked 92d by the World Chess Federation.

Apparently feeling ill, he pulled his car into a courtyard in the capital, Yerevan, and lost consciousness, the federation said. An ambulance crew pronounced him dead, it said.

A moment of silence was held before the opening of a speed-chess tournament in Yerevan on Monday after his death was announced. - AP