Armenia’s men’s team of chess players placed third in the world team championship held in Israel; Russia and China placed 1st and 2nd. We congratulate our men and wish them future successes. This is one of the few cases when Armenians managed to reach success through teamwork (Ararat-73, two teams of KVN and the men’s and women’s chess teams).
As a matter of fact, we get the same picture in politics. We mustn’t be too careful to find any political party in Armenia that plays at least one long game in a team (I am not talking about the authoritarian political parties that artificially get stronger by judging from the conjuncture of the given time period). There are two similar political parties in Armenia today: the Armenian National Movement (ANM) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). Both parties have proven that they can not only survive, but also develop without being authority figures. It’s interesting, but a fact that besides working as a team, these two political parties are based on real ideologies according to their structure. Of course, that does not mean that all members of the parties are ideologist, political figures. However, we must admit the fact that whether we want to or not, whether we love those political parties or hate them, like them or are neutral, in a classical way, out of the many political parties that exist in Armenia, only these two are the ones that have played the two major roles on the political stage of Armenia for the past 15 years. Today we will analyze, as they say in chess terminology, the round of the 20th game category.
Whites
King – anonymous for 8 years
Queen – Armenian National Movement (ANM)
Pawns – forces that can join the ANM at any given time by recalling the former ties
Bishops – Western liberal forces
Horses – Pro-ANM mass media
Knights – A sector of Armenian citizens
Blacks
King – has always been anonymous
Queen – Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Pawns – administrative resource
Bishops – a large sector of Diasporan Armenians
Horses – pro-ARF mass media
Knights – dual citizens of Armenia
Whites play
During the middle 1990s the whites, along with their then king (Levon Ter-Petrosyan), tried to neutralize the black queen, however, all in vain. I don’t think that this was a wrong move because even the Communists had not been able to pull that off 70 years ago. Besides, the whites made the black queen even stronger by that move. After all, we all know from history that the number of people that sympathize for the pressured increase. If we recall how many votes federation candidate Sos Sargsyan had received in the 1991 presidential elections, then we can come to the conclusion that the whites (ANM) raise the black’s rating (ARF) in Armenia with that move.
Blacks play
Of course, the blacks were mainly losing in the games in the 1990s due to the fact that they were playing without the pawns (administrative resource). However, by the end of the 1990s, they invited the right trainer at the right time (Robert Kocharyan) and managed to not only get out of the pretty hard situation, but also to get an advantage over the competitor.
Whites play
Despite the fact that the whites lost their king in that game and lost, however, there is the term match-rematch concept in chess which the whites are striving for 8 years already. First of all, it is not clear as to why they want to start a new game with the same king (especially since the king does not want that), and of course, it remains unclear as to why they did not manage to find a transitional knight during all those years when they had the potential. Let’s make an interesting observation: the whites do not like to play with the horses (mass media) because they underestimate the role that they play. Besides, they could have easily sacrificed, let’s say, professional chief of State Television (Tigran Hakobyan). Even after losing power, ANM did not defend one of its most beloved horses (“A1+”). I would simply like to remind the reader that the horse is the type of figure that can put the competitor in checkmate after two strong figures.
Blacks play
By having the same potential as the whites, during the past couple of years, the blacks were able to learn from the old and new mistakes made by the whites. First of all, in contrast to the whites, the blacks have always made the right moves with their horses. Let’s simply recall the “Country” newspaper back in the beginning of the 1990s. However, the blacks are giving way to mass media today too, for example, “Yerkir-Media” television network and some newspaper editions. Besides that, both then and now, the blacks’ bishops (Diasporan Armenians) have always played major roles in all rounds of the games. After the constitutional amendments referendum, when dual citizenship will be passed by law, those figures can declare “check” to each competitor. However, we mustn’t forget that many Diasporan Armenians have abandoned or are abandoning the federation. Many of them are fighting against the federation today.
Whites play
In contrast to the white horses, the white bishops have always played a strategic role. By taking into account the presence of both their horses or their pawns (forces that can join the ANM at any given time) and the fact that they can make unexpected moves before the parliamentary elections, the whites will obviously continue the struggle. Let’s not forget that it is difficult to come to terms with losing the game after the force has reached success for the first time.
Blacks play
The blacks, in turn, understand that the whites will never declare ceasefire. That is why they always take advantage of the time to remind everyone of the white queen’s “ears”. The blacks use this so-called move, the “black PR” very often. This was considered a “great move” back in the 1990s, but today that move is only luck.
Chess interpreter Karen Kocharyan
Although chess players Tal and Amislov were very talented, however, they had the title of world champions for a short period of time. As for Botvinik, who was also talented, managed to return the crown to the greatest player after losing a couple of times. Time will show whether the whites are similar to Tal and Smislov, or Botvinnik. I would compare the blacks to Estonian chess player Paul Keres who had the “always second” name. The blacks have proved many times that they have been and will remain in the political field, however, it is hard for them to become number one since they don’t have a king.