The Guardian: Bravo to Armenia
“The Guardian” British publication has published an analytical story on Armenia’s chess life.
“Bravo to Armenia for making chess a compulsory part of the primary school curriculum. Educationists in that former Soviet republic argue that playing chess will breed a sense of responsibility in young children and be character-building. Armenia is an obsessive chess-playing country, one of the strongest in the world despite a population that is the same as Wales,” the story goes on.
Stephan Moss recalls another Soviet world champion of the 1960s, Tigran Petrosian, was born in Armenia, and the Armenian Levon Aronian is currently No 3 in the world and a credible challenger for the world crown.
The Armenians say their move is about making better adolescents rather than breeding great players.
Armenia wants its national team to be world-beating (and above all Azerbaijan-beating), and will be very happy if the new programme produces a few more Aronians.