Of Armenian descent, Jirayr Ohanyan Çakır was born in Istanbul, Turkey on February 5, 1921. His father Avedis, who was from Merzifon, was the owner of the famous Markiz Bakery and was one of the biggest donors to the Turkish Armed Forces. His mother Anna-Mari was from Bursa and was a teacher at the Private Armenian School of Pangaltı and the Galatasaray High School.
Ohanyan Çakır was introduced to chess when he was a student at Galatasaray High School. Şişli Sports Club experienced its "golden age" during this period in terms of chess. Ohanyan Çakır was elected President of the Sports Club of Şişli in 1964.
He traveled to the Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv in 1964 and captained the Turkish National Team.
Between 1976-1977, he became the President of the Istanbul Chess Federation. He was elected president of the Taksim Sports Association in 1977.
Between 1978 and 1982, he was the president of the Turkish Chess Federation. From 1989 and onwards, he became the chess coach of numerous Armenian schools throughout Istanbul.
In 2011 a chess tournament was organized in his honor in Istanbul.
In 1943, with his classmate Turan Başak, he became a member of the school"s chess club Between 1964-1977, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Chess Federation. In 1986 he assumed the position of General Secretary of the Turkish Chess Federation and was elected Honorary Advisory Board Member of the Federation in 1988.
