Armenia Takes Bronze in World Chess Championship
The Armenian chess team took a bronze in the World Team Chess Championship third time in a row. I am proud we have such a strong team in chess.
More on this:
Armenian Chess Federation.
from ArmeniaNow
AP report
Some Photos: 1, 2
Yes, well done Armenia.
Though what this has got to do with chess, I don’t know.
Comment by Nick — 11/11/2005 @ 5:09 pm
You can see the standings at http://www.wccisrael.com/standing.asp
I did not expect the Armenian team to beat the Chinese men. I guess it was Armenia’s victory that broke them and they lost to the Russian team and got the second place.
Comment by nazarian — 11/11/2005 @ 6:11 pm
It is remarkable that not only individual Armenians can achieve highest international levels but also as a team.
Comment by Գագիկ — 11/12/2005 @ 2:02 am
I have to disagree with nazarian. Armenian chess team is comprised of very experienced players, some of which I know personally and others through proxies. Plus we do have one of the best teams in the world by any stretch of imagination. The chinese are just now starting to rise in chess just like in any other sports. I am surprised that our team lost to russia, but not crushing china. I hope the Chinese government will not hold this against us in the future, when they conquer the world:)
Comment by Artyom — 11/12/2005 @ 9:48 am
Armenia has the largest number of chess grandmasters in the world in per-capita terms! Which says it all about our intellectual potential.
Comment by H. Hovsepian — 11/12/2005 @ 4:34 pm
Well, the Armenians do not have the most amount of grandmasters per capita, actually Iceland does. But Armenians have the most amount of FIDE Top 100 players per capita.
Comment by Artyom — 11/13/2005 @ 12:04 am
Like most of you, I followed the match from the first round ’til the end. Let me begin by saying that our team has both the experience and the potential to beat any other team in the world in Chess; we’ve come close on many occasions.
This time I thought we’d be able to do, but beginning with Round 4, when Armenia played the US team, I knew our players didn’t have the courage to be the champions. In that round our players drew their games with the US team, all four games were less than 20 moves each, and remarkably two of the four games were less than 15 moves each. This was a pathetic and shameful performance. Then for the last round with Cuba, the same dreadful act was repeated. Yes, our team couldn’t have captured the title at that point but they could have aimed for the second position.
I hope this complaint gets resonated to our team either through Artyom, who admitted to have an access to our players, or through anyone else who has the ears of our players and the Armenian Chess Federation.
The Armenian team has both the potential and the experience to be World Champion, but it needs the most essential element: courage and guts!
P.S. While I have all of your attention, let me repeat my earlier call for a separate section for chess on Blogrel. The rational for this would be the fact that our players are very active in the world of chess and there are many developments and achievements to be reported.
Comment by Levon — 11/13/2005 @ 7:44 pm
>The Armenian team has both the potential and the >experience to be World Champion, but it needs the >most essential element: courage and guts!
this is actually true not in chess but in many other aspects of Armenia’s society, politics, and foreign affairs. everyone has turned into a lame duck (although technically there’s only one).
Comment by Hovakim — 11/14/2005 @ 3:09 am