Armenian GM: There are no enemy nations

Armenian Chess Grandmaster Levon Aronian dismisses all kinds of allegations about enemy nations when it comes to competitions with Azerbaijani counterparts.
At a news conference on Saturday, he said it is not absolutely difficult for the Armenian chess team (including himself) to play with Azerbaijani sportsmen as they never focus on things like nationality during games.
"In our matches, we always try to forget who we are playing with and never think of a person's ethnic roots. There are no enemy nations, there are bad people," he said.
Aronian, who is going to take part in London Chess Classic between December 1 an 10, said the tournament is very important to him as he has never celebrated a victory in competitions like that.
"I have never held a victory in strong tournaments as that, and I have a big desire to win. I will try to attain a success," he said
Speaking of the games with his main challengers, Magnus Carlsen, Aronian said the matches with the Norwegian grandmaster are always of a big interest.
"That tournament in London always sees strong chess players competing. It will be an interesting experience this year as the world's strongest female chess player, Judit Polgar, is going to be among the players," the sportsman said.
Aronian said it is not the first time he is going to face top sportsmen, adding that all the participants already know what to expect from each other.  Read more... (246 words)

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