Levon Aronian spoke about his involvement with the Soviet chess school and spoke about chess in Armenia. Aronian discusses his connections with former trainer Garry Kasparov and explains why he changed federations from Armenia to the USA. Levon spoke about it in an interview with Europe Echecs.

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian

America's No. 5

“I was able to take advantage of the connections and contacts that the Soviet Union offered at the time. One of my first trainers, Melikset Khachiyan, studied with Alexander Shakarov, who was Kasparov’s trainer. For this reason, he had contacts with Moscow.

At 9 years old, I went to Podolsk, a town near Moscow, where Kasparov held training sessions. You meet children of your age, you assess the general level, because Armenia is a small country. Being the best player in Armenia is very prestigious, but measuring yourself against all the other players from the Soviet republics is much more important.

I left the Armenian Federation because I saw that the field to which I dedicated my life, chess, was neglected by the government. I said to myself: ‘If they treat me like this, what do they do to those who are weaker?’ I could not accept this.

That is exactly why I left. Nevertheless, I still help Armenian chess, although it is difficult. The government cancelled many subsidies. Previously, there were much more resources.

Even today, I financially support several young Armenian chess players.”

Levon Aronian transferred his federation from Armenia to the United States in December 2021. Playing for Armenia, Aronian won three gold medals at the Olympiad, one gold medal at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011, and won the World Rapid Championship 2009 and the World Blitz Championship 2010. After switching federations, Aronian won The American Cup 2024 and two Freestyle Chess Grand Slams.

Credit: Lennart Ootes / FIDE