UNPRECEDENTED CHESS TOURNAMENT IN THE CAUCASUS

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 6 2005

On October 1 the ceremony of opening of the International Chess
Tournament Karabakh 2005 (organized by the government of NKR
and the Chess Federation of Armenia) took place. The minister of
education, culture and sport Kamo Atayan congratulated the guests
of the ceremony and the participants of the tournament. The famous
Hungarian chess player Lajos Portish, who is a guest of the tournament,
and the international grand master Bartlome Macheya also addressed
the guests. L. Portish said he had first visited Armenia 40 years
ago, invited by his friend, the 9th champion of the world, Tigran
Petrossian. And since then he has cherished unforgettable memories.

“My second visit to Yerevan was 9 years ago, during the Chess
Olympiad. And this is my third visit,” said L. Portish. “And the
occasion is a very good one. An international chess tournament is
held in Stepanakert which will continue in the future and become
a tradition. I will gladly follow the games and I believe that few
mistakes will be reported on the chess board. I wish you all success
and at the same time I want to thank the NKR government and the Chess
Federation of Armenia for inviting me to the Karabakh 2005.” The
international grand master Barthlome Macheya who participated in
the tournament devoted to the 75th anniversary of Tigran Petrossian,
emphasized the importance of such events from the point of view of
bringing peoples together and achieving mutual understanding. He
recalled that last year he left Karabakh carrying unforgettable
memories along with him. “I made new friends here, this wonderful
country full of kindness, which I missed a lot, has become close to
my heart, and I have told about the days I spent in Artsakh and my
impressions to many people. I am grateful to be back here again, to
be invited to the Karabakh 2005 tournament. Also I would like to thank
one of the best grand masters of the time, my friend Smbat Lputyan who
does his best to develop chess and make it popular. I wish you peace
and all the best.” Two tournaments are held simultaneously: Tournament
A corresponds to category 17 and Tournament B corresponds to category
11. Famous international grand masters are taking part in Tournament
A, such as Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Ivan Sokolov (the Netherlands),
Alexey Dreyev (Russia), Victor Bologan (Moldavia), Hikaru Nakamura
(USA), Bu Xianzhi (China), Bartlome Macheya (Poland), Karen Asrian
(the winner of Tigran Petrossian International Chess Tournament)
and Ashot Anastasian (Armenia). In Tournament B Yevgeni Sveshnikov
(Latvia), Tigran Petrossian (Armenia), Ervin Lami (the Netherlands),
Jose Manuel Lopez Martinez (spain), Katarina Lahno (Ukraine), Sergey
Grigoriants (Russia), Raj Tishberek (Germany), Benjamin Galstian,
Artur Chibukhchian and Arsen Yeghiazarian (Armenia) are taking part. On
Sunday the first games of Tournaments A and B took place. In Tournament
A Ashot Anastasian defeated B. Macheya; the score was 1:0.

At the 56th step Levon Aronian won the game with Moldavian Victor
Bologan, and Vasily Ivanchuk defeated Chinese Bu Xianzhi. The games
between Ivan Sokolov and Alexey Dreyev, Hikaru Nakamura and Karen
Asrian ended in a score. In Tournament B the games S. Grigoriants-E,
Lami, Y. Sveshnikov-L. Martinez, K. Lahno-T.Petrossian, B.

Galstian-A. Chibukhchian ended in a score. The German player R.

Tishberek defeated A. Yeghiazarian. On the second day in Tournament
A A. Ananian played with H. Nakamura, K Asrian with V. Balagan, L.

Aronian with I. Sokolov, A. Dreyev with V. Ivanchuk and B. Macheya
with Bu Xianzhi. In Tournament B K. Lahno played with Y. Sveshnikov,
L. Martinez with S. Grigoriants, E. Lami with B. Galstian, A.

Chibukhchian with A. Yeghiazarian and T. Petrossian with R.

Tishberek. During the press conference the president of the Academy of
Chess of Armenia, international grand master Smbat Lputian emphasized
the importance of Karabakh 2005 in Artsakh, for such a high-level
tournament is held in the South Caucasus for the first time, which
is a great honour for both the participants of the tournament and
its organizers.