Tigran Petrosian on new Armenian money

by André Schulz
2/6/2018 – Armenia honours its World Chess Champion Tigran Petrosian with a banknote. The likeness of the 9th World Chess Champion graces the new 2000 dram which has recently been issued for the first time in the country, as part of a new series of notes.

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2000 dram with Petrosian

After Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres, Tigran Petrosian is the second chess player to have a banknote comissioned in his honour. The likeness of the 9th World Champion now adorns the Armenian 2000 dram bill. 

In 1993, the Armenian central bank introduced the dram currency, replacing the Russian ruble. The name "dram" refers to the ancient Greek "drachma". In the first series (1993-1995), the dram banknotes were decorated with pictures of important architectural monuments. From 1998, the images of famous Armenian personalities were also depicted.

The 2000 dram note, newly issued in 2018, is currently equivalent to 3.33 euros, and is part of a brand new "third series" of Armenian bank notes.

2000 Dram bank note

About Tigran Petrosian

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was born on June 17, 1929, as a child poor parents in Tbilisi (Georgia) and grew up there in great poverty. In 1949, he went to Moscow where he developed into to one of the best players in the USSR. In 1963, he defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in the match for the World Championship and became the 9th World Champion in chess history. In 1966, Petrosian successfully defended his title against Boris Spassky, but in 1969 he lost to Spassky. He then participated in 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980 in candidate matches, but lost to Bobby Fischer and three times to Victor Korchnoi. Between 1958 and 1978, Petrosian participated with the Soviet team in ten chess Olympiads. In 1959 and 1961, Petrosian was USSR champion.

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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twamers twamers 2/9/2018 09:25
Well done Armenia. Petrosian was a truly fantastic player.
RayLopez RayLopez 2/8/2018 02:04
Which currency bill is greater: Estonia's Keres bill or Armenia's Petrosian bill? Keres vs Petrosian!
genem genem 2/8/2018 04:40
How deaf was Petrosian? Petrosian wore a hearing aid, and could not hear typical conversation when the aid was turned off. On one occasion Petrosian was unable to hear S.Gligoric offer him a draw. I gather he could speak, although I do not know whether his speech included the characteristics of speech by people who are profoundly deaf since birth. How old was Petrosian when his serious deafness began (an infant, or an adult, or...)? Did Petrosian know and use hand sign language? Could he read lips?
melante melante 2/7/2018 01:56
now I really have to visit Armenia to get a few of those notes! :)
valu831 valu831 2/7/2018 12:54
Armenian current writing comes from Mesrob Mashtots in 405 AD. Pre-Mashtotsian Armenian writing traces back at around 100 BC.
malfa malfa 2/6/2018 04:09
Armenian writers, I suppose! :-)
Avoid Knightmares Avoid Knightmares 2/6/2018 02:57
Where does Armenian writing come from?
KevinC KevinC 2/6/2018 01:17
I don't think they thought this through too well. The bills don't bend at all since they are made of iron. :)
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