November 17, 2017 - 12:20 AMT
Armenia at FIDE Grand Prix: Aronian draws first round

Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian drew the first round of the final tournament of the FIDE Grand Prix in the Spanish town of Palma de Mallorca on Thursday, November 16.

The FIDE Grand Prix 2017 is a series of four chess tournaments that form part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2018. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

Aronian who won the World Chess Cup in September, as well as Ding Liren, who reached the finals, have already qualified for the Candidates Tournament.

Aronian faced Russia's Dmitry Jakovenko on Thursday, as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia) and Anish Giri (The Netherlands) defeated their opponents to lead the tournament.

18 grandmasters are taking part in the tournament whose second round is slated for Friday.