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Levon Grigori Aronian (born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster. On the March 2014 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2830, making him the fourth highest rated player in history.

Aronian won the Chess World Cup 2005. He led the Armenian national team to the Gold medals in the 2006 (Turin), 2008 (Dresden) and 2012 (Istanbul) Chess Olympics and at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo 2011. He won the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, qualifying him for the Candidates tournament for the World Chess Championship 2012, where he was knocked out in the first round. He was also World Chess960 Champion in 2006 and 2007, World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009, and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. In 2015, he won the 3rd Annual Sinquefield Cup.

Aronian has been the leading Armenian chess player since the early 2000s. His popularity in Armenia has led to him being called a celebrity, and a hero. He was named the best sportsman of Armenia in 2005 and was awarded the title of Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia in 2009.

Wesley So leads Grand Chess Tour 2018 tally after Leuven and Paris

Grand Chess Tour 2018 is a five-leg tour composed of the rapid and blitz games in Leuven and Paris, and rapid, blitz and classical games tournaments in St. Louis later this year. The final leg in London will played among the top 4 finishers in the first four legs.

At the end of each leg, GCT points are awarded to each player based on their rankings. By the end of the second leg in Paris, Wesley So leads the cumulative GCT points:

Wesley So in Solo Lead after Day 2 in Paris Grand Chess Tour 2018

As the second leg of Grand Chess Tour continues in Paris, Wesley So takes solo lead at the end of Day 2 — after 6 rapid rounds. This, after he defeated Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk and drew with Levon Aronian during the day.

Replay Day 2 games below:[replay]

Paris Grand Chess Tour 2018 Ranking after Day 2

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gtcpr_d2_ranking.csv”]

Replay all rapid games in Paris GCT 2018.

Official scoring after Round 6 rapid games:

Grand Chess Tour Paris 2018 Day 1 Rapid Results: Aronian, Anand, and So lead

The second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2018, the Paris GCT 2018, kicked off just 4 days after Leuven. The format is still the same: 5 days, 9 rapid, and 18 blitz games. Vladimir Kramnik plays wildcard in Anish Giri‘s stead.

Day 1 was action-packed, as expected in rapid games. 7 out of the 15 games were decisive. Replay Day 1 games below:[replay]

Grand Chess Tour Paris 2018 Ranking after Day 1 Rapid

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gtcpr_d1_ranking.csv”]

The official scoring system awards 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Thus, here’s the official scores after Day 1 of three rapid games:

Stay tuned for more chess action from Paris.

Wesley So Wins Your Next Move 2018

The first leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2018, the Your Next Move 2018, came to a conclusion. After 5 days of play, 9 rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of blitz games, Wesley So emerged victorious being just half a point ahead of the contenders: Sergey Karjakin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

The last round indeed was full of drama. Going into the final round, So was just half a point ahead of Karjakin and MVL — he needed a win to secure the title, while a draw could mean tie-break games. Watching the live coverage, you can see the disappointment in So’s face as he resigned his last blitz game against Hikaru Nakamura. Yet, to his surprise, both Karjakin and MVL lost their respective games as well. Thus, Wesley So was crowned the champion.