Armenia is an obsessive chess-playing country, one of the strongest in the world despite a population that is the same as – yes, you guessed it – Wales. In fact, Wales – and New Zealand, too – are good parallels. In the way that rugby defines those countries, chess defines Armenia. Another Soviet world champion of the 1960s, Tigran Petrosian, was born in Armenia, and the Armenian Lev Aronian is currently No 3 in the world and a credible challenger for the world crown.

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