From: Sam Sloan <ishipres <at> BEST <dot> COM>
Date: 2 aug 1996
Subject: Perils and Dangers in Attending the World Chess Olympiad in

PERILS AND DANGERS OF ATTENDING THE WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD IN ARMENIA

                by Sam Sloan

The World Chess Olympiad will be held in Yerevan, Armenia from September 15
through October 2, 1996. I think that potential visitors and chess players
should be alerted to the dangers one faces when entering the Republic of
Armenia at this point in time.

The visitor entering Armenia, particularly is he has some talents, such as
the ability to play chess at a fairly acceptable level, will be besieged by
women, eager to get out of Armenia and to go to almost any other place in
the world.

However, these are not the kind of women which were all too frequently
available during the last World Chess Olympiad in Moscow. These are the
marrying kind.

To see a typical example of the kind of dangers I am talking about, please
look at my web page at http://www.hooked.net/users/vanupp/laura.htm

This shows a photograph taken in Yerevan, Armenia a couple of years ago. As
one can plainly see, I was nearly hooked into a mating net, from which I
barely escaped, even though my opponent was really only a 2000 chess player,
not much by today's standards.

I was told a story that, at about that time, a delegation of 32 American
college students came to visit Yerevan on a friendship tour. By the time
that they were ready to depart three weeks later, 24 of them had married
Armenian women and were taking them back to America.

So, if you are going to be attending the 1996 World Chess Olympiad in
Armenia, be prepared for this. Be sure to bring along a certified copy of
your latest divorce decree, certified by a court of competent jurisdiction,
so that, when this exigency arises, you will be in a position to act quickly
and decisively.

And, by the way, when the 1996 World Chess Olympiad starts in Yerevan on
September 15, you can be sure that Laura, the young woman featured on my web
page at http://www.hooked.net/users/vanupp/laura.htm, will be there. Laura
still plays chess!!

Sam Sloan