A Nation's Passion for Chess

Last Saturday, BBC website gave in interesting report about a country's passion for chess. Title of this article was "Armenia revels in its chess prowess" and talked about the country's love for the game of KINGS.Full article on BBC excerpts of the article are posted below:


National obsession

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Opera Square in the capital Yerevan, to watch the games being displayed on giant boards, as the moves were relayed from Moscow.

The result led to an outpouring of patriotic fervour. That same year, John F Kennedy was assassinated.

"In America everyone can remember where they were when Kennedy was shot," one man tells me. "Here in Armenia, everyone of a certain age can recall the exact moment Petrosian became world champion."

From that moment on, chess became a national obsession.

Chess house

In the centre of Yerevan, there is an imposing four-storey, Stalinist-era edifice where anybody can turn up for a quick blitz game, lasting just a few minutes, or a more measured contest of several hours.

Passion even the government share

Later I meet the president of the Armenian Chess Federation. The interview had taken months to arrange.

That may seem odd until you realise that in his spare time, he is also president of the country.

His cabinet consists of two Tigrans - the prime minister and the finance minister.

The state already offers free training to the most promising players, and a guaranteed salary (equivalent to the average wage) to any Armenian who reaches the elite title of grandmaster.

The president now plans to introduce chess into the school curriculum.

"We don't want people to know Armenia just for the earthquake and the genocide," President Serge Sarkisian said. "We would rather it was famous for its chess."

Reading from above, Armenia is now part of my travel list. Robbing elbows with their locals and play chess would surely be a dream come true. Someday :)