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BBC has published an article about chess in Armenia, a country which “is making chess compulsory in schools.”

“Every child aged six or over in Armenia is now destined to learn chess. The authorities there believe compulsory lessons will "foster schoolchildren's intellectual development" and improve critical thinking skills. The country has plenty of reasons to believe in chess. It treats grandmasters like sports stars, championships are displayed on giant boards in cities and victories celebrated with the kind of frenzy most countries reserve for football. Chess is nothing less than a national obsession,” says the article.

According to BBC, “it may only have a population of 3.2 million, but Armenia regularly beats powerhouses such as Russia, China and the US and its national team won gold at the International Chess Olympiad in 2006 and 2008. Added to that, the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has just been re-elected as chair of the Armenian Chess Federation.”

“Now the chess-mad country is investing nearly $1.5m (£920,000) to teach all of its children. Chess is already so embedded in its culture, it's bound up in its national psyche and ambitions,” according to the article.