"I have great respect for him as an international figure. He made a huge contribution to the development of chess around the world. After he became the head of the Armenian Federation, such a small country’s team seems to have become a 3-Time Olympic champion.
Sargsyan, as president of the country, personally came and supported the team. I would like him to still keep the post of head of the Chess Federation. His authority helps me in the cause of chess development all over the world," Ilyumzhinov said.
FIDE head stated that Armenia is the only country in the world where chess is taught in schools as an obligatory subject. "Two years ago, we held a meeting of the FIDE presidential council with him as well as an international conference on the Chess in Schools programme. The relevant report was submitted to UNESCO. Armenia is the only country in the world where chess is an obligatory school subject," Ilyumzhinov noted.
"A month ago we opened the world's first International Chess Research Institute," Ilyumzhinov continued. "There, academic scientists study the influence of chess on the progress and development of child's personality, the development of the cerebral hemispheres and the way chess helps in the fight against autism, childhood cerebral palsy and the prevention of Alzheimer's disease."