Wednesday, 1st April 2o2o
Arianne Caoili Passes Away
by Peter Doggers
Arianne Caoili
December 22, 1986 - March 30th, 2020
Born in Manila, Arianne Caoili learned chess at the age of six and was a WIM (Woman International Master).
Arianne Caoili, a former Oceania women's chess champion, Woman International Master, and an incredibly versatile human being, has died due to the consequences of a car crash.
Ms. Caoili, the wife of Armenia's number-one grandmaster Levon Aronian, was 33 years old.
On March 15th, the Armenian state news agency reported that Caoili was in serious condition after a car crash in Yerevan.
Alone in her car, she reportedly lost control and crashed into a concrete barrier under a bridge.
She was brought to the Astghik Medical Center, where doctors initially said her condition was serious, but later they reported positive dynamics in Caoili's condition.
She was kept in an induced coma.
On the evening of Monday, March 30th, Aronian shared the terrible news that Caoili had passed away.
He did so in a moving Tweet which, at the time of writing, has over two thousand replies with condolences.
Caoili was born in Manila, the Philippines, on December 22, 1986, the younger of two sisters born to a Dutch mother and a Filipino father, who was a minister.
The family moved to Australia in 1989.
She was an active chess player in her youth and won her first major title on her 14th birthday when she came first in the Asian girls under-16 championship in Bagac, the Philippines, in 2000.
Her most successful year as a chess player was 2009, when she won both the London Chess Classic Women's Invitational tournament and the Oceania Women's Zonal Championship.
Ms. Caoili changed federations in 2004 and began representing Australia, the country she represented in five Olympiads.
Before that, she had played twice for the Philippines.
She became known to the wider Australian public in 2006 when she participated in the fifth season of 'Dancing with the Stars'.
She did quite well, finishing in second place with her dance partner Carmelo Pizzino.
Ms. Caoili wasn't an active chess player herself anymore, but she was incredibly busy with a wide variety of projects and engagements.
She visited Aronian occasionally at chess events to support him.
"I wouldn't say I'm a great player, but I am good enough to be nervous enough!" she said.
Caoili and Aronian were engaged in 2015 and married in September 2017 in Yerevan, in the presence of the then Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his wife.
Ms. Caoili was multi-talented.
By education, she was an economist with a Ph.D. on "Russian foreign policy, especially its economic and business relations with Armenia on a state and individual level."
She spoke several languages fluently and loved mountain climbing, cycling, and cooking.
Her Twitter bio lists many more interests such as the economics of space, foresight, ESG funds +SWFs, music, dance, and boxing, apart from chess.
She owned a jazz club in Yerevan and recorded an EP in Australia.
After working as a consultant at Price Waterhouse Coopers, she became the managing director at the global strategy consulting firm Akron, which is active in public policy and economics.
In this role, she advised international leaders, including the Armenian president.
She also co-founded a newspaper in Armenia.
Ms. Caoili was also involved in several philanthropic initiatives in Armenia.
In 2018, she made a 2,000-km bike tour through Turkey, Iran, and Armenia to raise funds for the Children of Armenia Fund, which, among other activities, builds schools where chess is now taught.
"I'm really proud of that," Caoili said.
"It was a lot of fun, and the central message, besides the historical context and how interesting that was, was to drive home that sport and chess is really important for kids."
