Armenia’s Aronian: Every time I was taking initiative I was made to understand that my opinion has no value

In a conversation with LevitovChess, three-time World Chess Olympiad champion, two-time World Chess Cup winner Levon Aronian spoke about the reasons for his decision to leave the Armenian national team and move to the US in the near future.

"I shall strive to use my potential, but lately I feel that there is no attitude towards me in Armenia. The state has always helped me, and if it has not helped, it has shown signs of respect.

When I see that something is wrong in my field [of sports], I strive to change something, whereas here every time I was taking the initiative, I was made to understand that my opinion has no value.

The problem is not money. You feel that you are being ridiculed. They invite you to a meeting, but they do not show up, or take everything you say as a saying of the favorite of the former authorities.

It is insulting. When you are an apolitical figure, you only do your job and you are treated differently. There was an impression that I am always a person who wanted something.

I represent a professional field point of view. I state that the previous authorities did everything for chess, for me, but that is not the question. If you are really devoted to the country, you should not divide the spheres into opposition, pro-government.

It all recalls a rural “bargaining,” and I could not just get used to all this. My every word was accepted in this way, and this situation was very unpleasant for me.

I want to develop my potential as a chess player. Maybe I have absolutely no potential, but I am a person who is completely dedicated to chess. And in this case, I want to see an equivalent attitude towards me.
Armenia is a small country, and I am a more or less famous figure, and my heart aches for chess, for such an attitude towards the field. I want the victories, the successes to be continuous.

There is no greater pleasure for me than living in my own country and speaking my mother tongue. My parents have raised me as an Armenian. Automatically, you live, think, act as an Armenian because you cannot do otherwise. You want your voice to be heard, whereas you are silenced every time. You feel like an extra person in your own country. It is mentally difficult to live in this atmosphere.

I do not know what success I will achieve in the US national team, how far that path will take me, but I want to be engaged in chess, be in sports, and I have not set a main goal to achieve anything in another national team. I am sure that this path of mine will be continuous. I have believed since childhood that nothing happens just like that; there is meaning in everything," said Levon Aronian.

The Armenian grandmaster, however, does not represent the US yet, and he represents Armenia in the current Meltwater Champions Chess Tour rapid chess competition.

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