CHESS GRANDMASTER ARONIAN MEETS GLENDALE COMMUNITY
Tuesday, July 8th, 2014 | Posted by Asbarez Staff
Chess Grandmaster Aronian Meets Glendale Community
Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan presents chess Grandmaster Levon Aronian
with a certificate of recognition
BY ROUBEN KRIKOURIAN
GLENDALE–International chess champion Levon Aronian was welcomed
by the Glendale community on Monday as he held a “meet and greet”
and public press conference, hosted by Glendale City Clerk Arty
Kassakhian. The chess Grandmaster is on his first visit to Los Angeles
to lead a four-day chess camp organized by Metro Chess and the American
Chess Academy from July 9 to 13.
City Clerk Kassakhian introduced Aronian to an audience at Glendale’s
newly constructed Adult Recreation Center, remarking that people of
the community are thrilled to see Aronian in their city. Kassakhian
also spoke on behalf of the community, praising Aronian for being an
“ambassador of Armenia” in the field of chess.
Levon Aronian gives pointers to Pierre Bidkhanian before his press
conference
Before Aronian took to the podium to answer questions from the
audience, Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan was invited on stage to present
the chess champion with a certificate of recognition from the City
of Glendale. Mayor Sinanyan congratulated Aronian and thanked him
for all his contributions.
Aronian said he was happy to be in Los Angeles and was surprised at
the size of the Armenian community in Glendale, saying that he felt
at home.
Aronian acknowledged that he represents his country wherever he goes,
and expressed his gratitude for the support he receives. “I consider
it a great privilege to represent my country,” he remarked.
The chess Grandmaster spoke about Armenia’s recently enacted policy
which makes chess a mandatory subject of study in schools. Aronian
described the policy as an innovative step. He explained that chess
adds value to a student’s education because it encourages one to
think deeply about things and delve into intellectual pursuits with
patience and diligence.
“If all the countries taught chess in school, I believe the world
would be a better place,” Aronian said.
Aronian also spoke about the innovations and developments in the
modern game of chess and discussed some of the great contributions from
Armenians in the field such as himself, noting that Armenia is a major
and disproportional contributor to the development of the game today.
Following a technical discussion about his chess game, Aronian
discussed his personal choices. He admitted that as a child, he wanted
to play the violin more than he wanted to play chess. He also discussed
his recent interest in boxing, reassuring the concerned audience that
he will not hurt himself.
When asked about the “key to success,” Aronian advised all young
people that confidence is the most important thing.
Levon Aronian answers questions from the audience
Aronian concluded with an anecdote about Azerbaijani chess players
using a chess opening known as the Petrossian. He recalled a recent
even in which Azerbaijani authorities banned figure skaters from
performing to music by Aram Khachatourian due to his being an Armenian
composer. Drawing a similarity, Aronian says he slyly complemented the
Azerbaijani players on their use of the Petrossian opening when Azeri
media interviewed him, drawing laughter from his Glendale audience.
Founding member of the American Chess Academy and former coach of
Armenia’s National Chess Team Armen Ambartsoumian delivered closing
remarks. He thanked Aronian for participating in the chess camp
co-hosted by his organization.
Ambartsoumian also acknowledged Aronian’s first ever coach, Grandmaster
Melikset Khachiyan, who was in the audience, as well as his mother,
Seda Aronova-Avagyan. Also in the audience was Woman Grandmaster Tatev
Abrahamyan, one of the youngest top-rated women’s chess players in
the US.
http://asbarez.com/124790/chess-grandmaster-aronian-meets-glendale-community/