Round 6: Armenia Continues to Share Lead at Chess Olympiad

KHANTY MANSIYSK, Russia (A.W.)—Following Round 6 of the 2010 Chess Olympiad, Armenia is sharing the lead with Georgia and Ukraine. All three teams have won five matches and drawn one.

In the sixth round, held on Sept. 27, the match between Georgia and Armenia ended in a draw (2-2), while Ukraine beat Hungary (3-1).

The Armenian team is represented by chess grandmasters Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian, Arman Pashikian, and Avedik Grigoryan.

In the women’s section, the Armenian team’s 6^thround match with Russia-2 (as the host country, Russia has 3 teams in the competition) ended in a draw (2-2). Elina Danielian, Lilit Mkrtchian, Lilit Galoian, Nelly Aginian, and Anahit Kharatyan are representing Armenia in this section.

Armenians representing other countries

Armenian chess players are representing other national teams as well. The top player in Slovakia’s team is grandmaster Sergei Movsesian, while the Brazilian team includes  Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian. In the women’s section, Yerazik Khachatourian is representing Norway. Khachatourian, an Iranian-Armenian, told the Armenian Weekly that she represented Iran in the 2000 Olympiad held in Istanbul. She later married and moved to Norway. This is her first time representing Norway at the Olympiad.

Around 1,300 chess players from 124 countries are participating in the Olympiad.

The Armenian team won the Chess Olympiad in 2006 in Turin, Italy and in 2008 in Dresden, Germany. It took third place in 2002 and 2004 at Olympiads in Bled, Slovenia and in Calvia, Spain, respectively. Armenia hosted the Chess Olympiad in 1996 in Yerevan.

The 40^th Chess Olympiad will be held in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.