Susie Hunanyan, 7, takes on a chess opponent in class
Photo[Felix Gaedtke/Al Jazeera]
Yerevan, Armenia - Little Susie Hunanyan attended her favourite class in school last week, and it wasn't drawing, crafts or sport. The seven-year-old sat studiously through an hour of chess lessons.
In Armenia, learning to play the grand game of strategy in school is mandatory for children - the only country in the world that makes chess compulsory - and the initiative has paid dividends. Armenia, a Caucasus country with a population of just three million, is a chess powerhouse.
Susie listened attentively as her teacher explained chess moves on a large board in front of the class at the Yeghishe Charents Basic School in the capital, Yerevan.
"I like chess lessons a lot. They always pass by smoothly," she said, setting up pieces sequentially on her board.
Armenia has produced more than 30 grandmasters and won the team chess Olympiads in 2006, 2008 and 2012. Armenian champion Levon Aronian is currently the third-best player in the world, according to the World Chess Federation rankings.
Chess in School
In 2011, Armenia made chess compulsory for second, third and fourth-graders. That's why Susie and her classmates have two hours of chess every week in school.
"My grandpa taught me how to play chess. But now that I learn chess in school, I am better at it than he is," Susie said, adding when she grows up, she'd like to become a chess champion like her idol, Levon Aronian.
For an hour, the students playfully engaged in one-on-one matches against each other.
"Chess is having a good influence on their performance in other subjects too. The kids are learning how to think, it's making them more confident," said teacher Rosanna Putanyan, watching her pupils play from the periphery.
Education project
The chess initiative is not only meant to scout young talent but also build a better society. Armen Ashotyan, Armenia's education minister, told Al Jazeera the project is aimed at fostering creative thinking.
"Chess develops various skills - leadership capacities, decision-making, strategic planning, logical thinking and responsibility," Ashotyan said. "We are building these traits in our youngsters. The future of the world depends on such creative leaders who have the capacity to make the right decisions, as well as the character to take responsibility for wrong decisions."
More than $3m has been spent on the project so far to supply chess equipment and learning aids in all Armenian schools, Ashotyan added. The majority of the budget was allocated to train chess players to become good teachers. In coming years, spending on chess is expected to rise, he said.
Grooming grandmasters
In one of Yerevan's southern suburbs, an extravagant building complex hosts the Chess Academy of Armenia. On a recent rainy afternoon, dozens of young chess players filed into small training rooms to get advanced lessons. The chess players, some as young as four, are being groomed for a professional career, free of cost thanks to the government.
Top-ranked chess players in Armenia win respect and adulation. Massive billboards with photos of the winning Olympiad team of 2012 on Yerevan's streets indicate their star status.
And the government provides top players with handsome salaries and perks: Tigran Petrosian, who was part of the gold-winning 2012 team and shares the same name as the country's champion during the 1970s, drives a swanky Mercedes S-550.
"We don't have to worry about money. That's a good thing. Although we have corporate sponsors for some events, it's mainly the state that supports and helps us out," said Petrosian as he drank juice in a Yerevan café.
The 29-year-old grandmaster said being a chess player in Armenia is a big deal. "I get greeted on the streets when I walk. People chase me home. And I get a lot of fan mail. I am happy to be a chess player in this country."
Yerevan Chess House, located in the heart of Armenia's capital, bears testimony to the country's chess mania. Every day dozens of chess players, young and old, spend hours here battling it out on their boards. Magazines, newspapers, books and DVDs about chess are on sale at the chess house's newsstand.
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