by David Zenian
Yerevan -- House cleaning is in full swing as Armenia prepares to host the 32nd World Chess Olympiad in September, a gathering of dozens of international chess masters from more than 100 countries.
At the Armenian Chess Federation headquarters in central Yerevan, construction workers, painters, electricians and carpenters are busy with a major facelift of the building -- home to generations of Armenian grand masters like Tigran Petrossian, the world champion from 1963 to 1969.
Across town, hundreds of workers are renovating Yerevan's sports complex where the games will be played along with four Soviet-era hotels where the more than 2,000 visiting chess enthusiasts, journalists and television crews will stay.
Special improvements have already been introduced at Yerevan airport to facilitate arrivals and departures -- including more staff and equipment and a VIP lounge.
"We are working around the clock to prepare for this international event which will be a very important morale booster for Armenia.
"The presence of 2,000 chess enthusiasts and players in Yerevan will be the best public relations opportunity for Armenia since independence," General Secretary of the Armenian Chess Federation and the Organizing Committee of the Sept. 15 - Oct. 2 event Gaguik Hovhannissian said in a recent interview.
"For two weeks, the world news media covering the Chess Olympiad will mention Armenia in every story, radio broadcast and television report. There is a wide world of chess enthusiasts out there, and they will get to hear and know more about Armenia," he said.
But how was Armenia chosen as a venue, and where is the money for the massive renovation and improvements coming from.
Hovhannissian said given "Armenia's love for chess", it was only natural for his Federation to seek membership in FIDE, the Lausanne-based Fédération Internationale Des Echecs which has 156 members.
"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we started preparing for the FIDE membership, and we actually joined in 1992. Chess is very big in Armenia, where we have three schools for chess and where some of the students are as young as six years old.
"We offered to host the 1996 Olympiad. Other offers came from the United States, France, Hungary, Indonesia, and Qatar, but the 1994 FIDE Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of Armenia as the venue of the 32nd World Chess Olympiad," he said.
Having taken the first step, the Armenian Chess Federation turned to the Armenian government and local banks to foot the bill. Within months, the necessary loans and commitments were already in place and work underway.
"The Chess Olympiad is a blessing for Armenia. It's like inviting a lot of people for dinner to your house ... you have to clean and prepare food, than sit back and enjoy your friends.
"We might not have repaired our hotels if not for the Chess Olympiad. The same is true with our Federation headquarters and the (Hamalir) Sports Complex," he said.
As the clock ticks closer to opening day, the Armenian men's and women's chess teams prepare for the international challenge.
"In the 110 years of chess, there have been only 13 World Champions, and two of them are Armenians ... Tigran Petrossian and Gary Gasparov.
"It's only natural to hold the Chess Olympiads here in Yerevan, and we will be ready," Hovhannissian said.
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Armenia: A New Era
