On January 19, Hrant Melkumyan will face Tigran L. Petrosian, who, with 4 points, is only 0.5 point behind the leader in round 8 of the Armenian men’s chess championship.

Other board pairings for the 8th round of Armenian men's chess championship are as follows: Hrayr Simonyan - Zaven Andriasian, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan - Arman Pashikyan, Robert Hovhannisyan - Karen Grigorian, Artashes Minasyan - Avetik Grigoryan.

Winners of 1st-3rd places to gain an entry to 2013 Armenian Championship; winners of 1st-5th and 6th-8th places will qualify for European Individual Championship and Aeroflot Open respectively.