I can't describe my feelings

World Team Chess Championship winner Sergei Movsesian: I can't describe my feelings
July 28, 2011 - 18:39 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Grandmaster Sergei Movsesian shared his impressions after a win as a part of Armenian team at Ningbo-hosted World Team Chess Championship.

“I'm so glad to be a part of the Armenian team; such victories bring nothing but positive emotions,” he said in a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

As the grandmaster confessed, every match in a championship was hard, as the team had to face strong rivals. Yet, Armenian team managed to keep up the good start they had, due to efforts they took at every match to gain a victory.

“We were heartily welcomed in Yerevan. I can't describe my feelings; I never though such a welcome possible in any country, maybe for football victories only. I thanked all Armenians for their support,” the grandmaster said.

In near future, the grandmaster is planning to leave for Prague; Movsesian will participate in World Chess Cup 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk in late August and Greece-hosted European Team Chess Championship 2011 in November.

On July 26, Armenian team won Ningbo- hosted World Team Chess Championship, gaining 14 points in 9 rounds.

Armenia welcomes the World Champions

Armenia welcomes the World Champions
World Chess Team Championship concluded yesterday in Ningbo, China

The World Chess Team Championship 2011 concluded yesterday in the New Century Grand Hotel Ningbo, China. The team of Armenia won the tournament and took the gold medal home. FIDE President obviously had a good feeling when he granted the Armenians with a wildcard for Ningbo. Armenia is also twice winner of the World Chess Olympiad (in 2006 and in 2008).

Alexander Kentler, columnist for "Sports Daily", highlights that the Armenians' successes are no longer surprise to anyone. With the guiding star of the ninth world champion Tigran Petrosian, who dethroned Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963, chess became the country's national sport. Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic, is also heading the Armenian Chess Federation and recently chess lessons were introduced into the curriculum in all schools.

The players never have to be persuaded to come under the national flag, Alexander Kentler added, they are ready to give up everything for the sake of playing for the national team. It is no wonder that there are many strong players in the country, with the leader Levon Aronian being rated among the three strongest players in the world.

This year the team was strengthened with GM Sergei Movsesian. Sergei, like Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, was born in Tbilisi, present-day Georgia. For many years he played for Slovakia, but finally settled in his native Armenia and immediately scored a superb result for the team.

Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and the national champion Robert Hovhannisyan complete the strong and reliable roster.

The hosting country China took silver medal with 13 match points, while the 2010 Chess Olympiad winner Ukraine claimed bronze with 12 points. Russia was in good position to overtake the bronze, but they lost to the lower-rated India in the final round.

Final standings: 1. Armenia 14 (22.5) 2. China 13 (22.5) 3. Ukraine 12 (19.5) 4. Russia 10 (21) 5. Hungary 10 (19.5) 6. USA 10 (18.5) 7. Azerbaijan 9 (19) 8. India 7 (15.5) 9. Israel 5 (13) 10. Egypt 0 (9)

The President of Armenia and President of Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan met the world champions at the international airport "Zvartnots" on their return from China. Photos courtesy of the President's Press Office.

The Champs

Armenia Wins World Chess Team Championship

By: Weekly Staff

Armenia took home the gold medal at the “Yinzhoo Cup” 2011 World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China, on July 26 after earning a total of 14 points.

The Armenian team remained undefeated, with five victories and four draws. During the ninth and final match on July 26, Armenia drew 2-2 with Ukraine.

The Armenian players were Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian, and reserve player Robert Hovhannisyan.

A day earlier, Armenia played against Azerbaijan and drew 2-2 after nearly five hours.

China took home the silver medal with 13 points, while Ukraine earned the bronze with 12 points.

The Championship pinned 10 countries against each other. Here are the results:

1^st place – Armenia (14 pts.)

2^nd - China (13 pts.)

3^rd - Ukraine (12 pts.)

4^th - Russia (10 pts.)

5^th - Hungary (10 pts.)

6^th - United States (10 pts.)

7^th - Azerbaijan (9 pts.)

8^th - India (7 pts.)

9^th - Israel (5 pts.)

10^th - Egypt (0 pts.)

Source: http://www.armenianweekly.com

Armenia Gold, China Silver, Ukraine Bronze

Rank table - World Team Championship

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	Armenia	9	5	4	0	14	22.5	0
2	4	China	9	6	1	2	13	22.5	0
3	8	Ukraine	9	5	2	2	12	19.5	0
4	10	Russia	9	4	2	3	10	21.0	0
5	6	Hungary	9	4	2	3	10	19.5	0
6	1	USA	9	4	2	3	10	18.5	0
7	7	Azerbaijan	9	3	3	3	9	19.0	0
8	5	India	9	3	1	5	7	15.5	0
9	9	Israel	9	2	1	6	5	13.0	0
10	3	Egypt	9	0	0	9	0	9.0	0

Armenia, World Team Champion

The Armenia - Ukraine match was the first to finish. Even though Ukraine can catch Armenia with a win, they chose to take 4 draws, giving Armenia the title.

Congratulations to the Armenian team, the only one who did not suffer a loss.

Armenia, still undefeated

Going into the final match, Armenia remains the only team not to have lost a single match! This is quite an amazing feat for this level of competition.

Ranking crosstable

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Armenia	*	2½		2	2½	2	2	2½	3½	3½	13	20.5	0
2	China	1½	*	2½	2½		3½	2	3	1½	3½	11	20.0	0
3	Ukraine		1½	*	2	1½	2½	2½	2½	2½	2½	11	17.5	0
4	Russia	2	1½	2	*	3	3	1		4	3	10	19.5	0
5	Hungary	1½		2½	1	*	2	2½	2	3½	3	10	18.0	0
6	USA	2	½	1½	1	2	*	2½	3		3½	8	16.0	0
7	Azerbaijan	2	2	1½	3	1½	1½	*	3	2		7	16.5	0
8	India	1½	1	1½		2	1	1	*	2½	2½	5	13.0	0
9	Israel	½	2½	1½	0	½		2	1½	*	3	5	11.5	0
10	Egypt	½	½	1½	1	1	½		1½	1	*	0	7.5	0

http://chess-results.com/tnr53136.aspx

China and Ukraine within striking distance in the final round

With big wins today, China and Ukraine have closed the gap to just 2 points from Armenia. Ukraine will have a shot at Armenia in the final round while China takes on Hungary. If China beats Hungary and Armenia loses to Ukraine, China will likely win the Gold because of superior tiebreaks.

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2
1	2	Armenia	8	5	3	0	13	20.5
2	4	China	8	5	1	2	11	20.0
3	8	Ukraine	8	5	1	2	11	17.5
4	10	Russia	8	4	2	2	10	19.5
5	6	Hungary	8	4	2	2	10	18.0
6	1	USA	8	3	2	3	8	16.0
7	7	Azerbaijan	8	2	3	3	7	16.5
8	5	India	8	2	1	5	5	13.0
9	9	Israel	8	2	1	5	5	11.5
10	3	Egypt	8	0	0	8	0	7.5

http://chess-results.com/tnr53136.aspx?art=3&rd=8&lan=1

Armenia inching closer to the WTC title

With just 2 rounds to go, Armenia has taken a commanding 3 point lead (2 pts = win, 1 pt = tie) over China and Ukraine. The addition of superstar Movsesian has given Armenia a big boost.

Crosstable after 7 rounds

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Armenia	*	2½		2	2½	2		2½	3½	3½	12	18.5	0
2	China	1½	*	2½	2½		3½	2		1½	3½	9	17.0	0
3	Ukraine		1½	*	2	1½		2½	2½	2½	2½	9	15.0	0
4	Russia	2	1½	2	*	3	3	1			3	8	15.5	0
5	Hungary	1½		2½	1	*	2	2½	2	3½		8	15.0	0
6	USA	2	½		1	2	*	2½	3		3½	8	14.5	0
7	Azerbaijan		2	1½	3	1½	1½	*	3	2		6	14.5	0
8	India	1½		1½		2	1	1	*	2½	2½	5	12.0	0
9	Israel	½	2½	1½		½		2	1½	*	3	5	11.5	0
10	Egypt	½	½	1½	1		½		1½	1	*	0	6.5	0

Standings after 7 rounds

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	Armenia	7	5	2	0	12	18.5	0
2	4	China	7	4	1	2	9	17.0	0
3	8	Ukraine	7	4	1	2	9	15.0	0
4	10	Russia	7	3	2	2	8	15.5	0
5	6	Hungary	7	3	2	2	8	15.0	0
6	1	USA	7	3	2	2	8	14.5	0
7	7	Azerbaijan	7	2	2	3	6	14.5	0
8	5	India	7	2	1	4	5	12.0	0
9	9	Israel	7	2	1	4	5	11.5	0
10	3	Egypt	7	0	0	7	0	6.5	0

http://chess-results.com/tnr53136.aspx?art=46&lan=1

Armenia leads Russia and Hungary by 2 at WTC

Standings after 6 rounds

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Armenia	*	2		2½			2	3½	2½	3½	10	16.0	0
2	Russia	2	*	3		2	1	3			3	8	14.0	0
3	Hungary		1	*		2½	2½	2	3½	2		8	13.5	0
4	China	1½			*	2½	2	3½	1½		3½	7	14.5	0
5	Ukraine		2	1½	1½	*	2½			2½	2½	7	12.5	0
6	Azerbaijan		3	1½	2	1½	*		2	3		6	13.0	0
7	USA	2	1	2	½			*		3	3½	6	12.0	0
8	Israel	½		½	2½		2		*	1½	3	5	10.0	0
9	India	1½		2		1½	1	1	2½	*		3	9.5	0
10	Egypt	½	1		½	1½		½	1		*	0	5.0	0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: points (game-points)
Tie Break3: The results of the teams in then same point group according to Matchpoints

http://chess-results.com/tnr53136.aspx

With 4 rounds to go, Armenia 1st, Russia and Hungary 2nd

Ranking crosstable

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Armenia	*	2			2½		2	3½		3½	8	13.5	0
2	Russia	2	*	3			1	3			3	7	12.0	0
3	Hungary		1	*	2½		2½		3½	2		7	11.5	0
4	Ukraine			1½	*	1½	2½			2½	2½	6	10.5	0
5	China	1½			2½	*	2	3½	1½			5	11.0	1
6	Azerbaijan		3	1½	1½	2	*			3		5	11.0	1
7	USA	2	1			½		*		3	3½	5	10.0	0
8	Israel	½		½		2½			*	1½	3	4	8.0	0
9	India			2	1½		1	1	2½	*		3	8.0	0
10	Egypt	½	1		1½			½	1		*	0	4.5	0

Annotation:

Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: points (game-points)
Tie Break3: The results of the teams in then same point group according to Matchpoints

Armenia back on top, Azerbaijan, China, Russian & Hungary tie for 2nd

Armenia is still the only country which is undefeated so far after 4 rounds. Azerbaijan and China are tied for 2nd on tiebreaks while Russia and Hungary are a little further behind in tiebreak points.

Standings after 4 rounds

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	Armenia	4	2	2	0	6	11.0	0
2	7	Azerbaijan	4	2	1	1	5	9.5	1
3	4	China	4	2	1	1	5	9.5	1
4	10	Russia	4	2	1	1	5	9.0	0
5	6	Hungary	4	2	1	1	5	8.0	0
6	8	Ukraine	4	2	0	2	4	8.0	0
7	9	Israel	4	2	0	2	4	7.5	0
8	5	India	4	1	1	2	3	7.0	0
9	1	USA	4	1	1	2	3	7.0	0
10	3	Egypt	4	0	0	4	0	3.5	0

http://chess-results.com/tnr53136.aspx?art=46&lan=1

Aronian to rest in round 4

Armenia to compete without Aronian in World Team Chess Championship 4th round
July 20, 2011 - 11:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On July 20, Armenian men’s national chess team will hold the fourth round of World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China rivaling Egypt team.

The Armenian team coach Arshak Petrosian gave No1 Levon Aronyan opportunity to have rest. On the first board he will be displaced by Sergey Movsesian to rival Ahmed Adli.

Vladimir Akopian will compete with Bassem Amin and Gabriel Sargisian with Samy Shoker. A 19-year old Robert Hovhannisian who is Armenia’s champion of 2011 will first time participate in the World Team Chess Championship and will play versus Mohamed Ezat.

Russia-Azerbaijan, Ukraine-Hungary, Israel-India and US-China pairs will compete in the fourth round.

After three rounds, Armenian team has 7,5 points to its total score and ranks the second. Russia is leading the Championship.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net

Petrosian still leads Villa de Benasque Open

Tigran Petrosian keeps dominant position at international Benasque International Chess Open
July 16, 2011 - 13:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Villa de Benasque International Chess Open ongoing in Spain is next to be over; one tour remains till its ending.

In the 9th tour, Armenian Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian playing with black pieces with Georgi Timoshenko (Ukraine) ended their game in a draw. Both chess players have 7,5 points to their score, Petrosian is leading thanks to tie break results.

In the last tour, Armenian Grandmaster will rival Twan Burg (Netherlands), who also has 7,5 points.

Zaven Andriasyan ended the game in a draw with Jiri Stocek of Czech Republic and with 7 points ranks the the 9th. Karen Movsisian went down to the 23nd place with 6,5 points.

The tournament hosts 471 chess players, 35 of which are grandmasters.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net

Armenia ranked sixth in World Team Chess Championship

Armenia ranked sixth in World Team Chess Championship
July 15, 2011 | 15:11

YEREVAN. – Chinese Ningbo city will host opening ceremony of World Team Chess Championship 2011 on Saturday. The first round will take place on Sunday. The strongest ten teams of the world participate in the championship: Chine, as an organizer country, Russia, Ukraine and Israel, continental champions Azerbaijan, India, U.S., Egypt and Armenia that received the invitation from FIDE president.

Armenia with 2678 points rates the sixth after Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, China, Hungary.

Levon Aronian, Sergey Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargssian, and Robert, Hovhannisyan will represent Armenia.

Source: http://news.am

Mandatory Chess in the School in Armenia

Chess to be taught at schools from coming 2011-12 school year

Thursday, July 14

The government has made amendments to its previous decision envisaging holding chess lessons in comprehensive schools from coming 2011-12 school year.

Pupils in second, third and fourth grade will have chess classes twice a week, government’s press office reported.

TODAY, 16:00

Source: Aysor.am

Armenia heads to Ningbo

Armenian national chess team leaves for China

The Armenian National Chess team of men (Levon Aronian, Sergey Movsisian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargsian, Robert Hovhannisian and coach Arshak Petrosian) left for China by Yerevan-Moscow-Beijing-Ningbo to participate in the World’s 8th Team Championship, the official site of the Armenian Chess Federation reports.

TODAY, 14:01
Aysor.am

Getting an invitation to LCC

Armenian GM invited to London tournament
July 07, 2011 | 12:52

Armenian GM Levon Aronian will join Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik at the 3rd London Chess Classic.

The tournament scheduled for December 3-12 will bring together five of the world’s top six players.

UK will be represented by Michael Adams, David Howell and former world title challenger Nigel Short.

One of the players will sit out each day to comment the matches for spectators and online, chess-news reports.

Source: http://news.am

Armenian team wins in Dvorkovich memorial

Armenian team wins in Dvorkovich memorial

[1:56:29 AM] PANORAMA.am Emma Sargsyan: In the final 14th round of Moscow-hosted Dvorkovich memorial Armenian team won both matches against “Dvorkovich chess parlour” team with 2,5:1,5, 2,5:1,5 points. Scoring 24 points Armenian youth team became the champion of the memorial. The Chinese team has occupied the second place having scored 23 points, and the top three is terminated by the Ukrainian team (18 points).

The team of Azerbaijan comes the fourth (15 points) surpassing Russia with 4 points. “Dvorkovich chess parlour” has 9, Belarus – 8, and Kazakhstan – 4 points.

TODAY, 13:49

Aysor.am