President of Armenia is Levon Aronian’s Good Friend: Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik

If we take the territory of the USSR, then in the global chess scene, it would be the leader since so many top players are from former Soviet republics — Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan. From the top ten, 7 players are from the former USSR, said Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in an interview with Ekho Moskvy (“Echo of Moscow”).

“But the situation has changed, and it’s become more difficult because our main rivals in team tournaments are former Soviet states. We’re still holding on pretty good, but certainly that dominant position that existed during these geopolitical changes is now impossible, so dreaming about it is not worth it,” he said.

Asked if the entire country should work to support a chess player, as Armenia on GM Levon Aronian, Kramnik said, “It helps when there’s support, as in Levon’s case. In fact, the president of Armenia is also the president of the chess federation; he always comes to tournaments. He’s a good friend of Levon’s; they have a direct link; it helps him, that and financial and moral support and an absolute carte-blanche. The same occurs in Azerbaijan.

“But Russia is a big country; chess is not the only sport, so naturally it doesn’t get tremendous attention. For example, in Armenia, Levon Aronian is the number one athlete…

“Levon Aronian is really quite talented, and he is a real contender to become the world champion — he is already rated second in the world. In principle, chess doesn’t require great investments like football, but it requires constant support. And if that’s on the presidential level, it helps a lot,” he said.

Photo: chesspro.com