10/1/2022 – Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez and Sam Shankland all have something in common. They play for the US national team, and they are all Libra. Although many Libra grandmasters play excellent chess, none have won a world championship title, except for Ruslan Ponomariov, who won the FIDE title in 2002. Even legends like Ossip Bernstein, Viacheslav Ragozin and New York-born Reuben Fine were close, but not close enough. Maybe it's because Libras bring too much lightness to the game? | Photo: Pixabay

9/9/2022 – Wesley So is the only player with a +2 score at the Sinquefield Cup after his win over Hans Niemann in Thursday’s sixth round. With three rounds to go, two players stand close behind on +1: Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja. While Nepo drew Fabiano Caruana in round 6, Firouzja got a rather quick, albeit bumpy, victory over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Levon Aronian also scored a full point, as he defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to return to a fifty-percent score. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Crystal Fuller

7/18/2022 – Levon Aronian beat Wei Yi in the finals of the FTX Road to Miami online tournament. By reaching the finals, both Aronian and Wei gained a ticket to the upcoming FTX Crypto Cup in Miami, where the players will meet in-person but will play their games online from individual computers.

7/16/2022 – Wei Yi and Levon Aronian will play the 2-set final match of the FTX Road to Miami online tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Wei knocked out Richard Rapport, while Aronian got the better of Jan-Krzysztof Duda in semis. Both finalists have already secured a spot in the coming FTX Crypto Cup, which will be played in Miami next month.

7/15/2022 – Queen endgames often need extreme precision. In numerous instances, passed pawns play a large role, but mating attacks should also be considered. Game 4 of the quarterfinal match between Levon Aronian and Arjun Erigaisi saw the former outplaying his opponent in an ending with queens and four pawns per side.

7/15/2022 – Rating favourites prevailed in the quarterfinals of the FTX Road to Miami online tournament. Levon Aronian and Jan-Krzysztof Duda secured victory ‘in regulation’, after four rapid games, while Richard Rapport and Wei Yi only won in the blitz tiebreakers. In semis, Wei is paired up against Rapport, while Duda is set to face Aronian.

5/23/2022 – Vishy Anand kept the sole lead at the Superbet tournament in Warsaw after scoring 5 points in the first nine rounds of blitz, which were played on Sunday. The Indian has a 1½-point lead over Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who finished the day with three wins in a row. A half point back stand Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, the day’s top scorers — Caruana collected 8 points, while Aronian added 7 points to his tally. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/14/2022 – Wesley So and Levon Aronian top the standings table with one round to go at the Superbet Chess Classic in Romania. While So had little trouble drawing Alireza Firouzja in round 8, Aronian was inches away from losing against Ian Nepomniachtchi. In the one decisive result of the day, Leinier Dominguez got the better of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/11/2022 – Levon Aronian grabbed a 25-move win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to catch Wesley So in the lead of the Superbet Chess Classic. Aronian and So have a full-point lead over a 4-player chasing pack with three rounds to go at the inaugural event of this year’s Grand Chess Tour. In the other decisive game of round 6, Leinier Dominguez defeated local rising star Bogdan-Daniel Deac. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/9/2022 – After the fourth round of the Superbet Chess Classic, Wesley So is leading the standings table with 3 points. With his win over Ian Nepomniachtchi, So single-handedly put a previously tied rival at a distance, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac, the third member of the pre-round leading trio, had to settle for a draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. There were also wins for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (over Fabiano Caruana) and Levon Aronian (over Leinier Dominguez). | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/29/2022 – GM Fabiano Caruana clinched clear 1st place in the inaugural 2022 American Cup, after defeating GM Levon Aronian in the second classical game of the final. In the Women’s Field, GM Irina Krush completed her campaign for the title as well, securing the victory after drawing the second game in her match against FM Alice Lee. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

4/28/2022 – The finals of the American Cup kicked off with the first of two classical games in the matches between Aronian - Caruana and Krush - Lee. In the Open, Aronian (pictured) managed to build up a winning endgame advantage but faltered at the last moment, allowing Caruana to escape with a draw. Meanwhile in the Women’s Field, Krush displayed her strategic skill once again, outplaying Lee in the early opening and middlegame to take a 1-0 lead in the match. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams

4/27/2022 – After defeating GM Leinier Dominguez in a dramatic playoff, GM Levon Aronian (pictured) qualified for the finals of the 2022 American Cup, where he will face GM Fabiano Caruana for the 1st place prize of $50,000. In the women’s field, FM Alice Lee earned herself a rematch in the $25,000 final against GM Irina Krush, after winning an incredibly close match against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan that went all the way to Armageddon. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Bryan Adams

4/14/2022 – Prior to the Candidates Tournament in 2013, two of the favourites to gain the right to challenge Vishy Anand in the next World Championship match were Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian — together with Magnus Carlsen, of course. In order to prepare for the all-important event, amid a scarcity of strong tournaments, Kramnik and Aronian played a 6-game match in Zurich. It was an exciting confrontation, which ended in a draw, with each player getting a win apiece.

3/28/2022 – Four players representing the United States scored full points in round 5 of the Berlin Grand Prix. Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura both won and are now sharing the lead in pool A, much like Wesley So and Sam Shankland, who are now co-leaders in pool C. Given round-5’s results, we are likely to see tiebreaks after Monday’s final round, as none of the four groups has a sole leader at the moment. | Photos: World Chess

3/23/2022 – In an exciting first round, the third leg of the Grand Prix series saw four players getting off to winning starts at Berlin’s Unter den Linden. Levon Aronian and Leinier Dominguez got crucial wins against direct contenders Hikaru Nakamura and Daniil Dubov, while Nikita Vitiugov got the better of Amin Tabatabaei, the lowest-rated player in pool D. The most surprising result of the day was Alexandr Predke’s win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photos: World Chess

3/4/2022 – Levon Aronian, is the "hero" of ChessBase Magazine #206. In the new issue, our authors - David Navara, Adhiban Baskaran and Romain Edouard among others - comment on their favourite games of the top player. This has resulted in a collection of 19 special encounters from 1994 (U12 World Championship!) to 2021. In addition, Mihail Marin's contribution is entitled "Levon Aronian's strategic universe" and Karsten Mueller presents a selection of the Armenian's best endgames. You can watch the video from Mueller's endgame contribution as well as Adrien Demuth's analysis of the game Aronian-Ponomariov (Lausanne 2001) here - enjoy!

2/25/2022 – Tata Steel 2022: analysis from Duda, Giri, Grandelius, Mamedyarov, Praggnanandhaa, Shankland, Erigaisi and Vogel. Peter Heine Nielsen and Dorian Rogozenco (video) take a close look at two Catalan wins by the World Champion and tournament winner. With CBM experts you see more: videos by King, Knaak, Marin, Müller, Reeh, Ris, Rogozenco and Werle - total playing time over 5 hours! Plus eleven opening articles with recommendations for your repertoire, e.g. "Steamrolling the Reti" (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 g5!?), "A versatile Ruy Lopez" (1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 Part I) or "London queen sortie" (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Qb6 6.dxc5 Qxb2). Last but not least: The "Special" on Levon Aronian with 19 annotated games as well as Marin's article "Aronian's strategic universe".

2/16/2022 – A 29-move draw in game 2 of the FIDE Grand Prix final means the winner of the event will be decided in Thursday’s tiebreaks. The short game was not without excitement, though, as the players entered a sharp line in which White had the more comfortable position but had to contend with Black grabbing material on the queenside. Hikaru Nakamura will have the white pieces in the first rapid game tomorrow. | Photos: World Chess

2/16/2022 – Hikaru Nakamura had the white pieces in the first game of the final at the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. Nakamura was on the back foot after playing what his opponent Levon Aronian considered to be an “erroneous” plan. However, Aronian could not make the most of his advantage and ended up needing to show precision to hold a 54-move draw. | Photos: World Chess

2/13/2022 – The two players who have shown the strongest and most stable performances throughout the event reached the final of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura drew with black on Sunday to knock out Leinier Dominguez and Richard Rapport, respectively. Since there was no need for tiebreaks in either match, the finalists will have a rest day on Monday. | Photos: World Chess

2/13/2022 – Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura won their first semifinal games at the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. Both players won with the white pieces and only need a draw on Sunday to reach the final of the GP series’ first leg. They are facing two players who already came from behind, though, as both Leinier Dominguez and Richard Rapport reached the semis after getting wins on demand in the group stage’s final round. | Photos: World Chess

2/10/2022 – Levon Aronian became the first player to secure a spot in the semifinals of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. The US grandmaster qualified to the knockout stage with one round to spare after getting an unsurmountable 1½-point lead in pool C. Suspense remains in the other three pools, though, with seven players going into Thursday’s sixth round still with chances of getting one of the three remaining spots. | Photos: World Chess

2/7/2022 – Fighting chess has been the rule rather than the exception at the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin, as Sunday’s third round marked the halway point of the group stage. Round 3 saw half the games ending decisively, with Levon Aronian becoming the first player to score two wins in the event. Aronian now has a full-point lead over Vidit Gujrathi in group C. | Photos: World Chess