On the initiative of the Yerevan Chess Federation and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Armenia and Yerevan Municipality, the "Yerevan Open" international chess tournament, which is being held for the 4th time this year, has started in Yerevan today.

The opening ceremony of the international tournament was attended by RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, Deputy Minister Karen Giloyan, Yerevan Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan, Yerevan Chess Federation President Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, USSR Champion, Double Chess Olympiad and World Team Championship, European Team Champion three-time championship winner Rafael Vahanyan, other representatives of the chess world.

MESC Minister Vahram Dumanyan welcomed the participants and guests of the tournament, stressing that the "Yerevan Open" international tournament once again proves that Armenia is a country with rich chess traditions. "Only 4 countries in the world have won the title of Chess Olympiad champion 3 or more times throughout history. And one of those 4 countries is Armenia. We are proud of the victory of the 9th world champion Tigran Petrosyan. Everyone knows about the Armenian origin of the 13th world champion Garry Kasparov. As part of the Soviet Union team, Rafael Vahanyan became the champion of the Chess Olympiad twice, and Levon Aronian is a two-time world cup winner. The list of other wonderful grandmasters who have brought glory to our country is very long."

Vahram Dumanyan also emphasized the incredible popularity of chess in Armenia. "Our country was the first to include chess as a compulsory subject in the general education program. As a result, thousands of children today master the secrets of one of the oldest games. Soon many of them will become more skilled, and the results will not be long in coming, and those who will not become chess players will have an analytical mind, which is so necessary nowadays."

Vahram Dumanyan wished a fair fight to the participants of the "Yerevan Open" and noted that the order of the participants indicates that the tournament will be a severe competition and will give many pleasant moments to chess lovers.

Yerevan hosted the tournament for the first time in 2016, the second time in 2017, and the last one took place last year. Every year, the range and geography of participants increase. This time, 292 chess players from 15 countries are participating in the "Yerevan Open," of which 55 have international titles, and 22 are grandmasters. The participants are from Iran, Georgia, Russia, India, Ukraine, Lithuania, France, the United States of America, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Australia, Greece, Turkmenistan, and of course, Armenia.

The total prize fund is 14 million drams. Cash prizes are provided for the chess players ranked 1st to 20th. In particular, the winner of group A will receive 2 million 600 thousand drams. Awards have also been set for the 1st and 2nd place women's participants, the winner in the category of chess players over 50 years old, and the winner in the under-10 competition of Group B.

Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, the president of the Yerevan Chess Federation, emphasized in his welcoming speech that there are different perceptions about chess. "I want to tell you about our perceptions. Chess is about honesty, fairness, restraint, tolerance, and respect for the opponent. There may be different perceptions that chess is about aggression or illegally taking possession of the opponent's pieces. Still, we believe that aggression and any moves outside the game's rules have nothing to do with the board. This is why we, Armenians, pay so much attention to the popularization of chess in our country. We hope and believe that if many people play chess and understand the essence and philosophy of chess in our country and worldwide, the world will improve."

Mkhitar Hayrapetyan emphasized that these 4 years have proven that the "Yerevan Open" took place, and its progress is unstoppable. After the tournament's opening ceremony, Vahram Dumanyan, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, and Tigran Avinyan took the symbolic first step on the three boards.