Armenia's Levon Aronian readying for World Rapid and Blitz events

PanARMENIAN.Net - The King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2018 will be held in Saint Petersburg on December 25-31, with Armenia's Levon Aronian also set to participate, Chessbase.com reports.

Real chess stars are going to take part in the events. Starting lists of the open tournaments are also headed by the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), world strongest grandmasters Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Viswanathan Anand (India), Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Sergey Karjakin (all from Russia), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), and other top players.

In the women’s events, the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun (China), Anna and Mariya Muzychuk (both from Ukraine), Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Valentina Gunina (all from Russia), Humpy Koneru (India), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), and other well-known players will fight for the titles.

In 2017, Viswanathan Anand won the King Salman World Rapid Championship, while Magnus Carlsen became the strongest in blitz. The women’s titles were gained by Ju Wenjun and Nana Dzagnidze respectively.