Armenia’s Aronian wins Gibraltar Chess Festival

Armenian GM Levon Aronian won Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018 on Thursday after drawing with Hikaru Nakamura in Round 10 and then beating Richard Rapport and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the playoff.

After ten rounds, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura (US), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Richard Rapport (Hungary) scored equal points. According to the regulations, the top four qualified for the playoff to decide the winner, Chess.am reports.

The matches Rapport-Aronian and Nakamura-Vachier-Lagrave were played in the semi-final. Levon Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave won their games to make it through to the final.

Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave played four tie-breaks, three of which ended in a draw. GM Aronian won a tie-break over Vachier-Lagrave to claim the champion’s title.