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The lion and the tiger

Armenia excels at chess. Its top player now has a shot at becoming world champion. How did this tiny country become a giant at the game?

by David Edmonds / November 18, 2009 / Leave a comment
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Published in December 2009 issue of Prospect Magazine

Grandmaster Levon Aronian: the popularity of the game in Armenia has made him into the country’s David Beckham

View more images from the Armenia chess championships taken by Magnum photographer, Stuart Franklin, who took the iconic images of tanks rolling into Tiananmen Square


Levon Aronian likes to sleep late. But at 11am on a weekday in August this year, his dreams were disturbed by what sounded like people chanting his name. In a semi-conscious state he got up, looked out of the window and saw a large group of people outside where he was staying. “You must win for Armenia!” shouted the crowd. They were there because in his native country, Levon Aronian is a megastar. He is 27 years old, charming, handsome, wealthy and the best in his nation at chess. And his countrymen take chess very seriously. The patriotic zeal focused on him during the August tournament was more intense than usual. If Aronian did well, he might one day become world champion.

Armenia is a tiny, poor country in the Caucasus, with a population of just over 3m. It has a long history of bloodshed and oppression; when it appears in the news it is usually because of its entanglement in some labyrinthine regional feud. And it excels at the ancient, cerebral game of chess. In the international Chess Olympiad, held every two years, Armenia took bronze in 2002 and 2004, then gold in 2006 and 2008, eclipsing traditional powerhouses such as Russia, the US, Germany and England. National celebrations followed the most recent victory, along with a set of commemorative stamps. Armenia has 27 grandmasters (GMs), the elite rank awarded to around 1,200 of the world’s best players. With more grandmasters than China and many more per capita than Russia, this little nation is a chess superpower. But why?

This summer I visited Jermuk to try to find out. Jermuk is a resort town 100 miles from the capital, Yerevan, and for two weeks in August its largest sanatorium was home to 14 of the world’s most brilliant men. They were there for a tournament organised by FIDE, the world chess federation.

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Comments

  1. GARO BALIAN
    November 26, 2009 at 21:29
    Armenian chess players
    Reply
  2. Juris
    November 27, 2009 at 02:35
    Fantastic story. Bravo.
    Reply
  3. The lion and the tiger « Prospect Magazine « Babyjurist’s Musings
    November 27, 2009 at 05:41
    [...] 27, 2009 in Uncategorized The lion and the tiger « Prospect Magazine. [...]
    Reply
  4. The lion and the tiger « Prospect Magazine « Babyjurist’s Musings
    November 27, 2009 at 05:46
    [...] The lion and the tiger « Prospect Magazine. [...]
    Reply
  5. giovanni
    November 27, 2009 at 15:31
    this is a very beautiful story, better then a novel. I'm not a chess player but I've lot of simpaty and respect for Armenian.
    Reply
  6. Jose Waitzkin
    November 27, 2009 at 16:47
    The author never even answered the question he began with in this unfocused article.
    Reply
  7. ‘The Death of Uncool’ - Idea of the Day Blog - NYTimes.com
    November 27, 2009 at 17:35
    [...] Why Armenia Is a Chess Superpower – David Edmonds, Prospect [...]
    Reply
  8. LINKED Vol.#4 | The Voices In Her Head « their bated breath
    November 28, 2009 at 13:18
    [...] women, and the voices in my head.” CULTURE: The popularity of the game in Armenia has made Levon Aronian the David Beckham of chess. BOOKS: New York Times literary critic Michiko Kakutani selects her favorite 10 books of 2009. [...]
    Reply
  9. Jim
    November 29, 2009 at 18:52
    Um, in China they play Chinese chess. It's a different (and in my opinion, better) game.
    Reply
  10. Monday Links « Gerry Canavan
    November 30, 2009 at 21:09
    [...] * Armenians love chess. [...]
    Reply
  11. Life of Alan » links for 2009-11-30
    December 1, 2009 at 05:01
    [...] "The lion and the tiger: Armenia excels at chess. Its top player now has a shot at becoming wor... (tags: Armenia) [...]
    Reply
  12. Mark Krikorian
    December 1, 2009 at 20:14
    Uh, sorry, but Tigran (alternatively Dikran or, in the Greek form used in history books, Tigranes) not only doesn't mean "tiger" in Russian, as the Prospect piece says, it doesn't mean tiger in Armenian, either. The name's of ancient Persian origin, apparently meaning "shooting an arrow" and was used by a number of Armenian kings.
    Reply
  13. Brian Semple
    December 8, 2009 at 14:11
    Re: Mark Krikorian Thanks for you comment. You are correct in saying "tigran does not mean "tiger" in Armenia, but the article doesn't say that. The Russian word for tiger is "tigr", and so "tigran" would carry the same association for a Russian speaker (decline the noun for example and you get "tigra" in the genetive singular, and "tigram" in the dative plural). Hope that clears it up, Brian
    Reply
  14. armenae
    January 26, 2010 at 09:21
    very enlightening!
    Reply
  15. kristine
    February 20, 2010 at 01:18
    Very good read. Just to add that Levon doesn't mean "lion" in Armenian. Lion would be "aryoots". Levon is just the Armenian version of male name Leon, or Lev, in Russian.
    Reply
  16. sanjeev jha
    April 12, 2011 at 06:41
    Levon Aronian has good chances of becoming world champion in 2012.He has a 5 - 1 lifetime score against Anand.But i think Kramnik will be threat to him as he is experienced campaigner in Candidates.I believe if he can win world chess cnadidates in 2011,he can defeat Anand.
    Reply
  17. sanjeev jha
    May 3, 2011 at 17:32
    Everyone is thinking that the Levon Aronian is favourite.I think that people are neglecting chances of other strong players like kramnik and topalov.These players have more experience in match play compared to aronian.Aronian has proved his potential in tournaments but candidates are different.
    Reply
  18. chandan hassan
    May 14, 2011 at 19:53
    Levon Aronian lost the most important match of his life.He has winning chances in first game but failed to convert.
    Reply
  19. vanita singh
    May 23, 2011 at 09:49
    I think seeing the results of world candidates,anand must be a hapy man.He can easily beat both grishcuk and gelfand.
    Reply
  20. rakesh kumar
    June 29, 2011 at 18:21
    Magnus carlsen is now no 1 on fide list.If anand will beat gelfand (as expected) than public pressure will grow on anand for a match with carlsen to determine world chess champion.
    Reply

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About this author

David Edmonds
David Edmonds is a senior research associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and co-runs www.philosophybites.com.
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