President of Armenia and Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov attended the grand opening of the 10th jubilee World Team Chess Championship Saturday.  The participants of the Championship are the strongest chess players from the ten strongest teams – Russia, Ukraine, China, US, India, Hungary, Israel, Cuba, Egypt and Armenia.    

For the first time in the history of chess team championships, 49 of 50 participants have the high title of Grand Master, reports Armenian News – NEWS.am, citing the President’s press-service. In fact, it is the second time Armenia has had the opportunity to host the World Team Chess Championship.  

On the occasion of the Championship’s opening, Serzh Sargsyan noted with pride that Armenia is considered as a great chess superpower in the world, although according to its size and population the country does not belong to the number of the world’s big countries.  According to the President, this can be explained by the fact that Armenians love and play chess and are proud of their national team.

The President also said that 2015 is a special year for Armenia, as well as the entire Armenian nation, since Armenians commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. “For this purpose our country will hold various events, which convey four main messages – remembrance, gratitude, prevention and rebirth. I’m grateful to our chess players for proving the idea of one of these messages, namely rebirth, by their game and actions well before 2015. And if small Armenia’s national team could become an Olympic Champion for the 3rd time and once a World Champion, then the plans of those who wanted to exterminate us have absolutely failed: we exist, have survived and are developing. Chess is the best example of fair game, fair struggle for many spheres of life, and I’m sure that the Championship in Tsaghkadzor will be tense, interesting and we will witness numerous beautiful and insightful games. Let the strongest win,” the President said.