Aronian Gets Married after Winning FIDE World Cup 2nd Time

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YEREVAN (Armenpress, Guardian) — Levon Aronian has had a very good week.

Armenia’s leading GM Aronian married Arianne Caoili on Saturday, September 30. The wedding took place at Saghmosavank Monastery with Serzh Sargsyan, both president of the Republic of Armenia and president of the Chess Federation of Armenia, serving as best man.

Born in the Philippines, Caoili has been living in Armenia since 2015. “I’m marrying not just Levon, but the whole of Armenia,” she said in a recent interview with Champord newspaper. She performed a traditional Armenian dance for her groom.

Aronian, the 34-year-old Armenian world number 2 chess player (https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men), who has dominated recent tournaments, took the $120,000 first prize at the World Cup in Tbilisi on September 27. He beat China’s Ding Liren 4-2 in the final. Both qualified for the eight-player Candidates Tournament in Berlin in March 2018, which will decide who challenges Magnus Carlsen’s world title later next year.

Aronian stood better in four drawn classical games but was unable to convert against Ding’s stubborn defense. He switched to a more fluid attacking style in the fifth, a speed tie-break, provoked errors and broke through for a mating attack. Faced with a must-win sixth game, Ding mishandled a promising position and was overwhelmed by a swift counter.

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Aronian thus secured World Cup victory to accompany Candidates place.

Aronian is the first chess player in the world to win the World Cup for the second time. He became World Champion again after 12 years.

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