page_title: Chess in Armenia
hierarchical_section_title: Chess in Armenia
caption_attribution_description: English: Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia
context_page_description: Chess has been played in Armenia since the early Middle Ages; however, it was institutionalized during the early Soviet period. Highly popular in Armenia today, chess gained widespread recognition during the 1960s, when Soviet Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian became the World Chess Champion. A country of about three million people, Armenia is considered one of the strongest chess nations today. Among countries, Armenia has one of the most chess grandmasters per capita.
  Since the country's independence, the Armenian men's chess team has won the European Team Championship, the World Team Championship and the Chess Olympiad. The women's team had its crowning victory at the 2003 European Championship. As of December 2019, Armenia ranks sixth in the world by the average rating of its top players. Levon Aronian, Armenia's best chess player, has placed as high as world No. 2 in the FIDE rankings, and has been a World Champion candidate on six occasions.
  Since the 2011–12 school year, chess lessons have been made part of the curriculum in every public school in Armenia, making it the first country in the world to make chess mandatory in schools.
context_section_description: Chess has been played in Armenia since the early Middle Ages; however, it was institutionalized during the early Soviet period. Highly popular in Armenia today, chess gained widespread recognition during the 1960s, when Soviet Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian became the World Chess Champion. A country of about three million people, Armenia is considered one of the strongest chess nations today. Among countries, Armenia has one of the most chess grandmasters per capita.
  Since the country's independence, the Armenian men's chess team has won the European Team Championship (1999), the World Team Championship (2011) and the Chess Olympiad (2006, 2008, 2012). The women's team had its crowning victory at the 2003 European Championship. As of December 2019, Armenia ranks sixth in the world by the average rating of its top players. Levon Aronian, Armenia's best chess player, has placed as high as world No. 2 in the FIDE rankings, and has been a World Champion candidate on six occasions.
  Since the 2011–12 school year, chess lessons have been made part of the curriculum in every public school in Armenia, making it the first country in the world to make chess mandatory in schools.
caption: The Yerevan Chess House, founded in 1970[1]
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