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In a chess-obsessed country, Levon Aronian is a superstar
(CNN) When Levon Aronian walks down the street in his native Armenia he's met by cheering crowds; restaurants insist he eats for free; new parents name their babies after him.
Aronian isn't an actor, activist, or astronaut. He's a chess player -- the fourth best in the world, to be precise. And in this tiny, ex-Soviet, chess-obsessed country, that means he's also a national hero.
"The first time my fiancée arrived in Armenia we stopped at one petrol station and they said, 'OK, we're not going to charge you,'" says the 33-year-old dubbed "The David Beckham of Armenia" by the foreign press.
"So for her this is pretty shocking -- but that happens all the time," he adds, referring to his Australian girlfriend Arianne Caoili, an international chess champion in her own right whose good looks have spurred the nickname "The Anna Kournikova of Chess."
The article is more than a portrayal of Levon, it is also a glimpse at Armenia's love affair with chess
Armenia's chess king
The red carpet treatment of players isn't so far-fetched in a country where chess is compulsory in all schools. Here, even the nation's President Serzh Sargsyan is also President of the Armenia Chess Federation.
For a nation of just three million, Armenia has one of the highest numbers of grandmasters per capita in the world. Of the past five Chess Olympiads, the national team has won three times -- led by none other than idol Aronian.
"I won't be humble about that," he adds with a cheeky laugh. And while Aronian may not have the swagger of a footballer like Beckham, his playful and sincere charm has only endeared him to a country of chess-fanatics.
Home-schooled by his scientist parents in what was then the Soviet Union, Aronian was taught to play chess by his sister as a nine-year-old -- and turned pro the same year.
These days the chess prodigy spends around four hours a day training. He usually travels seven months a year -- playing at international tournaments offering anywhere between a few thousand and over a million dollars in prize money.
