TBILISI, Georgia (A.W)—Nearly 12 years after winning the championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, chess Grandmaster Levon Aronian of Armenia clinched his second FIDE (World Chess Federation) World Cup title after winning two tiebreak rapid games against China’s Ding Liren on Sept. 27.
Aronian will take home the $120,000 first prize. By competing in the tournament finals, Aronian is eligible to complete in the Candidates Tournament, which will take place in Berlin in March of next year. There, the challenger for the World Chess Championship will be determined.
Aronian was born in Yerevan on Oct. 6, 1982. On the March 2014 FIDE rating list, he was ranked No. 2 in the world and had an Elo rating of 2,830, making him the fourth-highest rated player in history. He ranks fourth in the world among active players.
Below is video form Aronian’s latest win:
Superb!
Levon Aronian is one of the highest FIDE ratings, among our contemporary world chess competition: As a 2802 Player, he’s in 4th place for standard chess. As a 2820, he’s in 7th Place for Rapid Chess. As a 2863, he’s in 3rd Place for Blitz Chess. He’s also highly acclaimed as a blind chess player. In 2012, he held 2nd Place, and if the current trend continues, he’ll recapture that position.
Garry Kasparov is an Armenian and a Jew. He used his mom’s Armenian name Kasparian, but he modified it into Kasparov. He was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan, but was nearly killed by Azeri thugs, when he escaped from the 1990 Baku Pogrom (on a private plane). Kasparov retired from chess competition, and he isn’t a factor in current FIDE competition.
In the biannual Chess Olympic Competition, Armenia has one of the most formidable teams, which confirms Armenia’s reputation as a chess superpower. Armenia’s Chess Team is credited with gold medals, from 3 of the 5 Chess Olympiad Tournaments, in the last decade. Armenia didn’t participate in last year’s 2016 Chess Olympiad Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, to ensure the safety of its players in Azerbaijan’s hostile capitol.
Armenia has invested seriously in the future of its chess players, since Tigran Petrosian was crowned as the world chess champion in 1963. He continued to hold the title until 1969. Petrosian empowered and inspired Armenia’s chess institutions. Chess is a national treasure for Armenia, and it’s taught as an academic subject in Armenian Schools.
The top five Armenian Chess Players, in the male competition: Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian, and Hrant Melkumian.
The top five Armenian Chess Players, in the female competition: Elina Danielian, Lilit Mkrtchian, Maria Kursova, Siranush Andriasian, and Lilit Galojan.
one billion four hundred thousand Chinese in China compared to 2.92 million in Armenia….My hats off to a small country producing among the smartest people in the world!. Way to go!
My favorite active player gets it done.
Well played…well deserved!
LEVON LEVON LEVON LEVON! Armenia is on the rise
Mazeltov levon from mike casciola Partanna sicily .the man To beat is magnum .to be honest i,m root ing for Fabio.
L,itrahot