GROSSMAISTERS FROM ARMENIA WON INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT IN STEPANAKERT
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005
The Second International Chess Tournament titled “Karabakh – 2005”
has been finished in the capital of Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Stepanakert. The measure was organized by the NKR government and RA
Chess Academy.
According to the De Facto correspondent in Stepanakert, 20
chess players from 11 countries of the world participated in the
tournament. A famous Hungarian grossmaister Liosh Portish arrived in
Stepanakert as the tournament’s honorable guest.
The winners are international grossmaisters from Armenia Levon Aroyan
(A group) and Tigran Petrosyan (B group).
In the course of the solemn ceremony of the tournament’s closing
the NKR President Arkady Ghoukasyan rewarded Liosh Portish with
“Gratitude” medal and RA Chess Academy President Smbat Lputyan with
“Vachagan Barepasht” medal for “great contribution to the organization
and conduct of the international chess tournament in NKR”.
In his speech a Ukrainian grossmaister Vasily Ivanchuk highly estimated
the tournament’s organization and “creative aura” and suggested that
the tournament should become traditional.
While commenting on Azerbaijan’s negative reaction to conduct of
the tournament in Stepanakert Vasily Ivanchuk stated: “I have come
here to play. I am not interested in the political issues”. He
expressed satisfaction concerning the fact that “Nagorno Karabakh
is reestablishing and developing, and people show great interest
in chess”.