By Anna Babajanyan

A chess board and pieces made of bread is one of the unique pieces a visitor to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) HistoryMuseum in Yerevan can see on display.

The artifact was constructed by members of Armenia’s First Republic (1918-1920) who were jailed after the fledgling republic was seized by the Bolsheviks in December 1920.

Sitting in the cells in the Yerevan Prison, the politicians and former government members decided to use the little bread given them by their jailers to fashion the chess board in order to while away the long hours and days of confinement.

It seems that beyond the physical torment, they were more worried about the degradation of their psychological state of mind behind bars.

The idea to mold the board and pieces took off and prison chess was born.

Hamo Ohandjanian, one of the prisoners who came up with the idea, was a member of the ARF, who served as the third prime minister of the First Republic of Armenia from May 5 to November, 23, 1920.

It is said that Ohandjanian loved the game and was a pretty good player.

The chess board became a much cherished item within the jail.

When many of the prisoners escaped, during the February Uprising of 1921, the chess board went with them.

When the political prisoners eventually fled Soviet Armenia, the chess board made the journey as well; perhaps serving as a memento of the life and hopes left behind.

After many long journeys, it has finally returned to Armenia.

The board is no longer played on. The game is over.

But there are no winners or losers here: only memories of exile and return.

(The museum first opened in 1946 in Paris and throughout the years, accumulated as many as 3,000 artifacts.The museum was inaugurated in Yerevan during an official ceremony in 2007)