Matinian's early chess career started in his childhood; he won the U10 Russian championship in 2010 and was fifth in the World Youth Championship 2010, under 10 category. In 2014, he succeeded in becoming the Russian U15 champion.
He ascended further in popularity during 2017 as he won the 14th IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship. He managed to acquire the grandmaster (GM) title in 2019, the highest skill category for professional chess players, becoming one of the youngest chess grandmasters globally.