WIJK AAN ZEE, The Netherlands—Armenian chess player Levon Aronian, currently ranked no. 2 in the world, won first place at the prestigious Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee on Sunday, closing in on world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
Aronian secured first place with 9 points, a full point ahead of Carlsen, Taimur Radjabov (Azerbaijan), and Fabiano Caruana (Italy).
He has shared first place at Wijk aan Zee twice before, in 2007 with Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Radjabov, and in 2008 with Carlsen. His victory this year, a full-point ahead of the rest of the field, is testament to his brilliant performance at the tournament.
Aronian, 29, has registered a number of top tournament victories in recent years and has cemented his position as one of the top chess players in the world today. He also led Armenia’s national team to victories in the Chess Olympiad (2006 and 2008) and in the World Team Championships (2011).
Held since 1938 under different names, the Tala Steel Tournament boasted the participation of 11 of the world’s top 20 chess players. This year, the tournament set a record in terms of the average rating of the participants.
Below are the final results.
Well done!
Congrats L. Aronyan
Wish you the best
To win all races…
Not because to win only
But to swing our Armenian flag to the right side
For the Danish people to know
Who are the Armenians
and advice their M.P’s
To recognize our genocide…
Sylva
Bravo! Hazar Bravo! We are so so proud of you. Keep up the good work.
Aronian won because the genetic pool of Armenians has undergone a thousand years of hardship under the Turkish Islamic yoke. All of those who couldn’t take it have already died.