CHESS DEVELOPS TALENT TO GOVERN COUNTRY, SAYS FEDERATION MEMBER

12:00 * 19.07.14

On the occasion of the upcoming celebrations of the International
Chess Day, Tert.am has interviewed Hovhannes Khalikyan, a member of
the Chess Federation of Armenia, who described the country as a chess
superpower that requires serious efforts to maintain that dominant
position. He proposed, for instance, launching a club movement that
would help further develop that form of sport in the country.

Khalikyan said he believes that chess develops analytical abilities
powerful enough to enable an individual to govern a country.

Mr Khalikyan, what projects of the Federation would you like to
speak about?

Well, because we are a [chess] superpower, that’s kind of obliging. It
isn’t easy to maintain the leader’s position, especially in a
socially vulnerable country as this. So to be able to maintain the
record, we need serious organizational steps. And I think we have
recently committed ourselves to a club movement that is to follow
school-children. If we are able to organize club movements, we will,
for a long time, be able to maintain our top position, enabling our
chess-player to maintain their world leader’s role.

So do you mean there will be clubs where people will go to play chess?

Clubs where people will gather not just for playing chess; this
will be of help to the parents who learn playing chess to help their
children or play chess when they have free time. The meetings that
chess-players have with big working teams demonstrate that there is
not just a demand; a meeting with grandmasters turns into a holiday
in any school, arousing enthusiasm.

So do the Armenians have a kind of innate talent of playing chess?

Yes, any Armenian is born with an engineering creative thinking.

Mr Khalikyan, Armenia is considered a chess superpower. Is it so
easily said?

At least since our gaining independence, since 1996 when Armenia
hosted the first Olympic Games, we have had achievements no other
country has seen, even a state like Russia. The Soviet Union had such
achievements: three times world Olympic champion, world champions
and so many grandmasters compared to our population; plus, so many
organizational activities and our chess festivals.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress