On the occasion of a visit to Germany, the President of the Georgian Chess Federation, Akaki Iashvili, took the opportunity to also visit the ChessBase office in Hamburg. Together with Alexander von Gleich, Vice President of the German Chess Federation, Iashvili was briefed on the latest developments in the field of digital training tools and was shown the newest programs. The children’s chess learning program Fritz & Chesster particularly impressed the visitor. Iashvili was convinced that with this program, children in Georgian schools would not only be inspired to take up chess, but would also, almost incidentally, learn some English as well.
ChessBase CEO Rainer Wosin and Akaki Iashvili subsequently agreed on a cooperation in the field of scholastic chess in Georgia.
As part of his visit, Akaki Iashvili also made himself available for a short interview (see below), in which he spoke about the great popularity of chess in Georgia, brought about by the work of Genrikh Gasparyan and the successes of the Georgian women’s world champions Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze. He also gave a preview of the Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities, which will take place this year in Uzbekistan at the same time as the Chess Olympiad. Akaki Iashvili is an International Arbiter and International Organizer and is active within FIDE in various roles.
Genrikh Gasparyan (1910–1995) was Georgia’s strongest player in the early 1930s and also made a name for himself as a composer of endgame studies. In 1936 he moved to Yerevan, Armenia, where he also became national champion. After the Second World War, Gasparyan worked as a chess coach in Yerevan, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s also again in Tbilisi.
Nona Gaprindashvili won the Women’s World Championship title in 1962 and held it until 1978, when she was defeated in a match by Maia Chiburdanidze. Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman ever to be awarded the Grandmaster (GM) title by FIDE. To this day, she enjoys great recognition in Georgia and is an important public figure.
Maia Chiburdanidze was Women’s World Champion from 1978 to 1991. For decades she led the Soviet, and later the Georgian, women’s national team, winning 13 team medals, including nine golds, as well as four individual gold medals.
Alongside the two world champions, Nana Alexandria, a multiple-time Women’s World Championship runner-up, also enjoyed great popularity in Georgia and the Soviet Union.
Younger players continue the great tradition of Georgian women players to this day. In the ranking of the strongest women players, Georgia occupies fourth place, behind China, India and Ukraine.
The Georgian Chess Federation emerged in the 1930s from the Tbilisi Chess Club. In the later years of the Soviet Union, a Chess Palace was built in Tbilisi.
A short interview with Akaki Iashvili
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