AN UNSEEN VICTORY
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
07 June 06
The political sphere of Armenia is always in the focus of
dissatisfaction of the public. One of the often-mentioned reasons for
this dissatisfaction is that the players on the political sphere are
not replaced. Moreover, the tools, we may even say requisites that
these figures use also remain the same. And in this general stagnation
the introduction of a new political tool, namely a finger, worked
to the bone to achieve something good, somehow passed unnoticed in
Armenia. However, the society had not managed to pay due attention
to all this, and the new tool had not become adjusted to the new
environment, when chess became involved. It is difficult to tell
whether it got mingled with politics or is going to. However, even
if it does, it is welcome, because at last a new tool appeared in
politics, which brought joy to the public.
The achievement of the Armenian chess players in Torino is simply
invaluable for a tiny country and nation such as Armenia, a nation
so tiny that any victory appears big. In fact, a real victory cannot
be small or big. A victory is a victory, and we must congratulate
the winners. However, it is highly uncertain who the winners are,
who we should congratulate, and who worked their fingers to the bone
for this victory, who checked and who mated. Whereas it is utterly
important to know in person who brought the victory, for as Serge
Sargsyan, the minister of defense of Armenia, the president of the
Chess Federation, said, “there are going to be more victories.” And we
would feel somewhat uneasy not to know who we owe in case of another
victory. At least, one thing is certain that we owe our chess players
for the Olympic gold, who remained on top all through the 13 rounds,
and did something that has not been achieved over the past 13 and
more years. It is surprising, however, that it is not the winners of
this victory who announce about future victories.
On the whole, the World Chess Olympiad had other curious aspects for
us. Particularly, it was surprising that the Minister of Defense
decided to go on holiday in a crucial home political period for
Armenia, and take up the duties of a chess federation president and
commentator. It was surprising that having a chess commentator in
Torino, who is quite professional, we could hear comments by Serge
Sargsyan from time to time. It was also surprising that the tournament,
which began and continued so successfully for us, was not televised and
all we were able to see were photos and comments. Of course, in this
sense, the victory of our chess team appeared more mysterious but why
did we miss the chance to televise this historical tournament? Is the
Olympic gold less important than the eighth place on Eurovision? Or
maybe the most important events are going to take place in Yerevan,
and it is not worthwhile to go to a lot of expense and take the camera
to Torino, wasting both the money and mystery.
It’s a pity. Whereas, we would be happy to not only hear but also
see the victory. And this victory was, in fact, worth seeing and
cheering. Who knows when it will happen next time? We were promised
new victories but we were not told in which sphere and for who.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
