CNN: Chess is national pride in Armenia
“When Levon Aronian walks down the street in his native Armenia he's met by cheering crowds; restaurants insist he eats for free; new parents name their babies after him. Aronian is a chess player - the fourth best in the world, to be precise. And in this tiny, ex-Soviet, chess-obsessed country, that means he's also a national hero”, CNN talks about Armenian chess.
The journalist states that Armenia has the biggest number of grandmasters considering population of only 3 million people. Armenia won 3 of the last 5 Chess Olympiads.
“But to really understand the country's love of chess, you must head to the streets. You see people playing chess in cafes, in parks, at family gatherings, among young and old alike. It's generational - most of the people I have met who play chess, when asked, mention a parent or grandfather who introduced them to the game and it is being taught at schools”, says Professor Aram Hajian.
It’s difficult to imagine Armenian chess without 1960s world champion Tigran Petrosian. The article states that, Armenia was following the moment Petrosian beat Soviet Mikhail Botvinnik to become 1963 World Chess Champion (a title he held until 1969). Thousands of people were gathering in in the capital Yerevan's Opera Square to watch the games broadcasted there.
“For a country with such a tumultuous history -including one of the most horrific massacres of the 20th century - chess has now also become an important source of Armenian national pride”, says Sheena McKenzie- the author of the article.
“We're not just a nation of people who struggle and fight. We're also a nation of people who can come back to the days of our glory when we were a big country, a country who set new rules”, explained Aronian.
“When you travel to Armenia you see all those monasteries, all those universities that are 1,500 years old and you always feel this is what we are. We have been a nation that had a lot of intellectual capability. So I think what drove people to chess, is to bring back the feeling that we were once a scientific nation”, concluded Aronian.