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Aronian Wins Tournament in Holland

Aronian in Wijk aa Zee (Photo by Fred Lucas)

Yet another Chess victory for Armenia. Levon Aronian, the chess player currently ranked no. 2 in the world, won the first place at the prestigious  Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands). Aronian secured the first place with 9 points, a full point ahead of Carlsen, Taimur Radjabov (Azerbaijan), and Fabiano Caruana (Italy). His victory this year, a full-point ahead of the rest of the field, is testament to his brilliant performance at the tournament.

Twenty-nine-year-old Aronian has registered a number of top tournament victories in recent years and has cemented his position as one of the top chessplayers in the world today. He has also led Armenia’s national team to victories in the Chess Olympiad (2006 and 2008) and in the World Team Championships (2011).

Here the results:

Final results of Wijk aan Zee 2012

Building character with a game of Chess

David Ayrapetyan, eight, plays a game of chess in his class in Yerevan, Armenia. Photograph: Tigran Mehrabyan/AP

Armenia a country of only 3 million is well known for its success in Chess. As such numerous Armenians have left their names among the top of Chess History. To name a few: Tigran Petrosian, Levon Aronian, Rafael Vaganian, Vladimir Akopian and of course one of the greatest Chess players of all time Garry Kasparov who adopted his Armenian mothers last name (Gasparyan) and modified it to sound more Russian (Kasparov). But this entry is not about the success of Armenian chess masters, instead it is about a new teaching model adopted in Armenia. The following is an article from the Guardian:

Armenia Takes Chess Obsession Into Classroom

Tiny Armenia is a big player in world chess, and a new gambit could make it even bigger: mandatory chess in school. The former Soviet nation has made the game part of the primary school curriculum along with such standards as maths and history for children between the ages of seven and nine.

Chess is a national obsession in this country of 3 million people tucked away in a corner between Turkey and Iran. The passion was fostered in modern times by the exploits of chess champion Tigran Petrosian, who won the world championship in 1963 and successfully defended his title three years later.