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PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

AGBU Sponsors Next Generation of Chess Champions in Armenia

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) has made a donation of
$20,000 USD in support of the Second Republican Interschool Chess
Championship project. This project is the initiative of the Armenian
Chess Federation under the auspices of the Republic of Armenia’s
Ministry of Education and Science. AGBU enjoys the status of Vice
President of the Championship’s organizing committee.

The aim of the national championship is to promote a love of chess among
approximately 6,000 schoolchildren and identify talented young people
who can grow to be future champions in the sport, helping to continue
Armenia’s role as a major player in world chess competitions. The
championship will be held in Yerevan and all regions of Armenia from
February to May 2008. Competition will take place in four phases and
include intra-school, intra-regional, interregional contests and a
final. The championship match will be held at the House of Chess in
Yerevan.

A portion of AGBU’s donation has been spent on providing 1,400 chess
boards to over 400 schools in the various regions of Armenia. The
remainder of the donation will be used to provide awards for
championship winners, including 60 chess encyclopedias for those who
reach the second and third rounds of competition, and 12 computers for
those who reach the finals.

Government representatives from all 10 regions of Armenia, mainly heads
of education and sports departments of regional governors’ offices, came
to the AGBU Yerevan office to sign the trilateral contracts. The
representatives received copies of "AGBU News" magazine and various AGBU
brochures, which they will distribute among their schools and government
offices to raise public awareness about AGBU and its work in Armenia and
around the world.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City with an
annual budget of $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually touching the lives of some 400,000 Armenians on six
continents.