Saeed Al Meqbali, President of the United Arab Emirates Chess Federation (UAECF) was in Armenia on February 18 with a delegation that met with Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia’s President of the Armenian Chess Federation.
A day earlier Serzh Sargsyan had also met with the newly-appointed UAE Ambassador to Armenia Jassim Mohammed Al Qasimi. During that meeting, the interlocutors had discussed a broad range of issues pertaining to Armenia-UAE relations and prospects for bilateral cooperation. Al Qasimi had said that chess was one of the areas where he hoped there would be deeper cooperation.
Al Meqbali of the UAECF told Sargsyan that he was very impressed with the culture of chess in Armenia, in particular, including the sport in the curriculum of the school system and the popularity of playing chess across all generations in the country. Al Meqbali said that they were interested in adopting Armenia’s example and were also interested in investing in Armenian chess. According to the Armenian president’s website, Sargsyan welcomed the UAECF’s interest and desire to advance cooperation in this area and expressed readiness to support exchange programs and joint projects.
A signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Cooperation and Understanding between the Armenian Chess Federation and the United Arab Emirates Chess Federation took place following that meeting.
The Armenian nation has a long history of playing chess. When Soviet Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosyan became World Chess Champion in 1963, chess became even more popular in the country. Today, Armenia is considered to be one of the strongest chess nations in the world and has one of the most chess grandmasters per capita.
The Armenian men’s chess team won the European Team Championship in 1999, the World Team Championship in 2011 and the Chess Olympiad in 2006, 2008 and 2012. In 2003, the Armenian women’s chess team won the European Championship. Levon Aronyan is currently ranked as number 2 in the FIDE rankings. In 2001, chess became a mandatory subject in Armenian schools.
