In 2008 l'Ami began working as a second to Ivan Cheparinov after the two had met at a tournament and became friends. Principally, he was engaged to assist Cheparinov at the elite Sofia M-Tel Masters event and benefited not only from the theoretical work they undertook together, but also from the insight he gained into chess at that level. In an interview given after the event, he considered the experience to be "inspirational". Along with Cheparinov and Francisco Vallejo Pons, he served as a second for Veselin Topalov in the February 2009 Challengers Match against Gata Kamsky. He has since served as second of Anish Giri.