TBILISI, Georgia – On September 27, Armenia’s chess grandmaster Levon Aronian defeated China’s Ding Liren in the final to become the winner of the 2017 FIDE World Cup.
Aronian becomes the only player in the world to win the FIDE World Cup for the second time, after previously winning it 12 years ago.
Initially tied at 2-2, Aronian won the cup after defeating Liren in two tiebreak rapid games.
The Armenian chess grandmaster will receive $120,000 as a first place prize. By also making it to the competitions finals, he qualified to participate in the Candidates Tournament, which will be taking place in Berlin in March, 2018. The Candidates Tournament will determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship.
According to the Public Radio of Armenia, Aronian stated that winning this tournament was a very special moment for him.
Aronian has been a leading Armenian chess player since the early 2000s. 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.
He has also won various tournaments and was ranked number two in the world on the March 2014 FIDE Rating list.
CONGRATULATION.
Congratulations
Great news!