The former two-time Armenian champion might have been somewhat anonymous in the not so long past, but two events in 2006 brought him out into the limelight: The first, while wearing the hat of a second to his fellow countryman Levon Aronian in last year’s Corus – especially in the last round when Gabriel’s idea and home cooking brought Levon a memorable, impressive win against Ivan Sokolov. The second event was in his own right at the Turin Olympiad, where he was the hero of the Gold winning Armenian team. His awesome 10/13 included an important win versus Morozevich, and was pivotal to the team’s victory.

Sargissian has been playing chess since his grandfather taught him at age 6, and been progressing steadily since: He made his IM title in 1998 and became a Grandmaster 1992. His reputation is that of a hard worker – before and during his games, and his latest results compliment him: Shared first at both the strong Reykjavik open (7/9), and with the same score in Dubai. A win in Corus B and a ticket to the A group for 08’ must be exactly what’s on the agenda of the friendly young Armenian.