Grand Chess Tour: Levon Aronian to replace Vladimir KramnikFebruary 2, 2017 - 12:50 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian was confirmed to participate in the Grand Chess Tour this year after Russia's Vladimir Kramnik was forced to withdraw from the sports event due to scheduling conflicts. The Grand Chess Tour consists of five tournaments, including three in rapid chess, and according to the rules, each of the nine participants must play in four competitions. Besides Aronian, the nine main participants of this season are Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So. These nine players will all compete in the 2017 Sinquefield Cup (July 31-August 12) and the 2017 London Classic (November 29-December 12) where they will be joined by one wildcard in each tournament, Chess.com reports. Aronian claimed the third spot at the 79th edition of the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands on January 29. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |