Epress.am News from Armenia
It was a victory for Armenian chess players in round 9 of the Tata Steel chess tournament yesterday. Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian, white in a Cambridge Springs variation against Spain’s Alexei Shirov, tried hard to produce a win, too hard, as he admitted himself after the game.
“I was doing very well out of the opening but I messed it up. 17.Bg3 was a patzer move and I continued playing like a patzer,” he said. Fortunately for Aronian, Shirov ended up in time trouble, committed a few inaccuracies and then decisively spoiled his game with a horrendous move. As the game went, Aronian took the full point at his 53rd.
The victory allowed Aronian to catch up in the standings to a tied first place with Viswanathan Anand (India), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Hikaru Nakamura (US) — all with 6 points each.
Another chess player representing Armenia at Tata Steel is Gabriel Sargsissian in Group B, who, playing white, scored a victory against Radek Wojtaszek (Poland). Sargissian also has 6 points and is in the lead, along with Luke McShane (England) and Wesley So (Philippines).
Today, Aronian will play against Anish Giri (Netherlands) while Sargissian’s opponent will be Le Quang Liem (Vietnam). Both Armenian Grandmasters will be playing white.