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June 03, 2008
Lori Student Team Triumphs in AGBU-Sponsored Chess Tournament in Armenia
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The Republic of Armenia's Deputy Education Minister Bagrat Yesayan presents members of the four-person Lori team with their championship prizes. Begun in February, the Second Republican Interscholastic Chess Tournament concluded on May 29,2008. The Tournament was sponsored by AGBU and included the participation of 18,921 students from across Armenia and Karabakh. (Photo credit: Photolure via AGBU Armenia)
The final stage of the Second Republican Interscholastic Chess Tournament took place on May 29, 2008 in the Tigran Petrossian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia. Sixteen teams hailing from all the regions of Armenia and Karabakh took part in the finals. Teams consisting of four players, three boys and one girl, vied for the championship title and a grand prize of personal computers for each member of the winning team.
The Republic of Armenia's (RA) Deputy Education Minister Bagrat Yesayan, Director of the Chess Academy and Vice President of the Chess Federation Grand Master Smbat Lputian, and AGBU Armenian Representation Director Ashot Ghazarian were present at the awards ceremony.
In his interview with H1 Armenian Public Television, Minister Bagrat Yesayan said, "This year we hosted a higher quality tournament, which covered the whole territory of the Republic. About 19,000 schoolchildren from more than 800 schools participated in the competition. In the last four months, the Republic was alive with chess. In the coming years, I am sure we will organize even bigger tournaments. For all those chess geniuses that our nation produces, this tournament was a very good start."
For the second year in a row, the winning team hailed from the Lori region, in the north of the country. Second and third prizes were awarded to Yerevan teams #1 and #2. All three winning teams received tournament cups, while team members received personal gifts, including watches and certificates.
AGBU awarded chess encyclopedias to all the members of the three teams that reached the finals, and computers to each of the members of the championship Lori Team. The winning team was comprised of Samvel Ter-Sahakian (age 14), Tigran Simonian (16), Davit Shahinian (14) and Arousyak Kahanian (16). It is worth noting that Samvel Ter-Sahakian recently received the honorific title of Grand Master for his continuing achievements in chess. The winning team coach was Garnik Nersissian.
The Second Republican Interschool Chess Tournament, which was initiated by the country's Chess Federation, began in February 2008. The Federation's initiative was supported by the RA Education Ministry and sponsored by AGBU. In total, 18,921 schoolchildren from 846 schools throughout Armenia and Karabakh participated in the tournament.
The annual Tournament seeks to promote chess among an emerging generation of schoolchildren, while identifying future champions. Armenia's men's and women's chess national teams have long been successful on the world stage, and this tournament helps to foster the country's long-established passion for chess.
During the first round of the tournament, AGBU donated 1400 chess sets to 415 schools in all of Armenia's 10 regions. The 60 second-round participants received chess encyclopedias as a prize, while the 11 third-round finishers received computers, all donated by AGBU.
For more information, please visit AGBU's YouTube Channel (youtube.com/agbuvideo) to watch a television segment (in Armenian) about the competition.
To view the article in Armenian (PDF) please click the following link: https://agbu.org/pdfs/AGBU_CHESS_ARM.pdf
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