Manuel Petrosyan and Mariam Mkrtchyan are new Armenian champions. Both won the first national titles in their careers.

The 82nd Armenian Championship Highest League and 77th Armenian Women's Championship took place in Yerevan from January 12–23, 2022. Both events were round-robin tournaments with classical time control.

The Highest League turned into a close race of Manuel Petrosyan (pictured above), Haik Martirosyan and Shant Sargsyan taking turns on the top. Petrosyan was coming to the final round a half-point ahead of his main competitors, with all three contenders playing with black pieces.

The former U18 World Junior Champion (2016) took things into his own hands and clinched the title with an excellent score of 8/11 after defeating Arman Mikaelyan. Martirosyan and Sargsyan also won their games, finishing on 7½/11, with Haik (pictured below) taking silver thanks to better tiebreaks. The bronze-winner Shant Sargsyan became the only unbeaten participant.

Final standings:

It all came down to the wire in the 77th Armenian Women's Championship, a 10-player round-robin tournament, as two leaders, a four-time champion Maria Gevorgyan and the top-rated Mariam Mkrtchyan (pictured above), clashed in the final, ninth round. Mariam Mkrtchyan prevailed in a long, tense battle to clinch her maiden title. The defending champion Susanna Gaboyan, trailing the leaders by a half-point, bested Asya Edigaryan to take silver. Maria Gorgyan had to settle for bronze. 

Final standings:

Photo: Armenian Chess Federation Facebook page