Levon Aronian Explains Why He Refused to Play Under the Armenian Flag and Moved to the U.S.

Levon Aronian, in an interview with "LurjCast," addressed the question of why he refused to play under the Armenian flag and moved to the United States. He expressed that he felt the attitude towards chess and chess players was not serious enough.

“I may say something a bit immodest, but since gaining independence from the Soviet Union, we have two achievements: Artsakh and chess, which were global accomplishments,” he stated. Aronian found it disheartening to encounter a new leadership and feel dismissed, as he described his experiences with a younger individual suggesting that he should recognize their contributions to the country.

“We are not to be compared in this way,” he remarked. “I am only sharing my subjective opinion. Our team has won the Olympiad three times, became the world champion, and was champion of Europe, among others. If you disregard those achievements and treat us like people trying to gain something or engage in corruption, it is ridiculous to me, and I didn’t want to sit and deal with this.”

After a few dialogues, Aronian realized that it was pointless to continue and decided to spare his and his family's nerves.

When asked about the cause of such treatment, and whether it related to former president Serzh Sargsyan, he commented that the nation's issue was playing “clan to clan,” which he has always fought against.

Regarding the hope of returning to Armenia one day, he affirmed that he has always supported chess and will continue to do so, even though playing for the national team is now a thing of the past.

It should be noted that at the beginning of 2021, Aronian announced his departure from the Armenian national team.