Armenia defeat France in Rapid Match
A French team took on the Olympiad Champions Armenia, led by Lev Aronian (pictured) in a rapid match in Paris from 24-25 June.
Each team had 4 players, who met in 8 rounds at a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10 second increment.
Armenia were the favourites and started with a 3-1 win in the first round. However, the French team rallied to win 2.5-1.5 and draw 2-2 in rounds 2 and 3 respectively.
However, the Olympic champions were not to be denied, winning 3-1 in the fourth round and then edging out the home team 2.5-1.5 in all the remaining rounds to finish with a convincing 19.5-12.5 overall match victory.
The Armenian team shared a cheque for 12,000 euros for their efforts in the match, which was broadcast live on Armenian television. The French team had to settle for 8,000 euros between them.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| Armenia | 3 | 1½ | 2 | 3 | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ | 19½ |
| France | 1 | 2½ | 2 | 1 | 1½ | 1½ | 1½ | 1½ | 12½ |
Tigran Petrossian was the star performer for Armenia with a very impressive 6/8 score, despite losing to Maxime Lachier-Lagrave in round 2. Joel Lautier struggled for the French team, trailing on 2/8.
Individual scores were:
| Armenia | ||
| Levon Aronian | 2754 |
4.5 |
| Vladimir Akopian | 2696 |
4.5 |
| Gabriel Sargissian | 2660 |
4.5 |
| Tigran Petrossian | 2600 |
6.0 |
| France | ||
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2684 |
4.5 |
| Laurent Fressinet | 2664 |
3.0 |
| Joel Lautier | 2658 |
2.0 |
| Christian Bauer | 2605 |
3.0 |
