U18 World Chess Champion, Armenia’s Samvel Ter-Sahakyan believes hard training helped him win in Brazil.

“Actually, my opponents were pretty strong, yet 6 consecutive victories heartened me greatly, so retaining leadership was all I had to strive towards from then on,” Ter-Sahakyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Ter-Sahakyan confessed to having had the hardest time in a round 7 match vs. Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev, who became the championship runner-up. “He too, played to win. None of us meant to give in. As a result we struggled for 5 hours before ageing to a tie,” the grandmaster said.

“It was only after the 8th round that I believed my victory possible. I was happy to become a champion,” Ter-Sahakyan said.

The young chess player will participate in 2012 Armenian Chess Championship with the further agenda to be announced later.