The 3rd Pan-Armenian Chess Camp and Tournament (PACT-3) was successfully held online from July 24 to September 2, 2023. The event concluded with an official closing ceremony where the regional semi-finalists and winners of the tournament were announced.
The closing event was attended by honorable guests from the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC), the Armenian Chess Academy as well as by Armenian chess champions and world-renowned grandmasters, such as Garry Kasparov, the 13th World Chess Champion.
The ceremony culminated in the announcement of the winners followed by an interactive blitz quiz for the online attendees of the event. The winners of the tournament were:
- First place: Argisht Voskanyan, age 15, Russia
- Second place: Karen Yesayan, age 12, Armenia
- Third place: Rafik Kalijian, age 18, Armenia
The winners and most active participants were awarded certificates and prizes.
The 3rd Pan-Armenian Chess Tournament brought together more than 340 Armenian youth aged 8-18 from 20 countries. It was organized by the the AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) and the Chess Academy of Armenia.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Yervant Zorian, AVC Founding President and AGBU Central Board Member said: "Two years ago, we started the tournaments to bring people together during the lockdown, to let them interact with each other.” Following the first tournament, the Pan-Armenian Chess community was created on the AVC online platform. "We now have an online chess community of more than 1,200 people who love chess and participate in our activities,” said Dr. Zorian.
Garry Kasparov, world chess champion in 1985-2000, said: "I am very happy to see Armenian players taking part in this competition. The reason our nation has survived and strived throughout our difficult history is the ability to always promote intellectual values. That's why I think participating in such a great intellectual competition is very important. It shows that nothing can stop the Armenian people from trying to improve our intellectual ability and move forward."
Michael Khodarkovsky, FIDE Vice President, said: "It's a privilege to congratulate you all on such an accomplishment. Armenian chess players always shine at the world youth championships, European championships, as well as the world Chess Olympiad."
Smbat Lputyan, founder of the Chess Academy of Armenia and Chairman of the FIDE Committee of “Chess in Educational System,” said: "I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Armenian Virtual College for their dedication to organizing such an interesting and important tournament for our children from all over the world. Our cooperation with AVC has always been very effective."
The chess tournament took place in two stages. The semi-final round was held according to four regions: Americas, Europe and Russia, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Armenia and Artsakh. The 20 best players competed for the three winning spots in the final round.
The tournament participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers for the opportunity to participate in the event. They said that they learned a lot from the tournament and made new friends.
The closing event included a rapid game between Armenia’s two champions, grandmasters Manuel Petrosyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, and a trivia game for the participants.
The 3rd Pan-Armenian Chess Tournament brought together young Armenian chess lovers from all over the world and helped promote chess education and development. The tournament is projected to continue to grow in popularity in the coming years.
Watch the trailer for the 3rd Pan-Armenian Chess Camp and Tournament here.
