Chess on front page of WSJ

I saw this article about chess Armenia on the front page of the Wall Street Journal yesterday. There are places on earth where the stars are not movie stars or football players... but chess champions. I also must admit I do not know exactly where Armenia is without looking for it in google map... Makes me want to move there until I read that some of these folks are so poor that don't have $ for gasoline, parking, or eat at restaurants.

Chess is compulsory in their elementary schools. Wow, now is that getting too far?

It is a game, although a very educational one... that teaches patience, strategies and all that. I hope they have other items on their economy. I hate to see great players who knows all the pros and cons of various openings and stuff end up suffering from hunger. No $ is a checkmate. I hope there are other means to make money over there.

I hope Armenia discover the fun of other games, such as the even more ancient, but even more difficult game of Go, or other variants of chess. Or perhaps some video games. :)