Aronian pips Leko in Yerevan
The Yerevan rapid play tournament in Armenia ended appropriately today with a winner from the host country. The penultimate round saw Peter Leko lose and Lev Aronian (pictured) win to swap places at the top of leaderboard and that was how it finished, with Aronian winning the event by 1/2 point.
Leko's loss was with the White pieces at the hands of the mercurial Russian Alexander Morozevich in a Sicilian Najdorf. Aronian beat the Brit Mickey Adams when the latter miscalculated early in the game and resigned after 20 moves.
It has been a difficult tournament for all involved due to the sudden death of the Armenian player Karen Asrian, a friend of many of the players, and the subsequent disruption to the tournament schedule. Hopefully in future years the annual tournament will be a fitting tribute to his memory.
The final table:
| 1 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2763 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 8½ |
| 2 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2741 | ½ | ½ | * | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 8 |
| 3 | Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2774 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7½ |
| 4 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2723 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 5 | Bu Xiangzhi | CHN | 2708 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 7 |
| 6 | Sargissian, Gabriel | ARM | 2643 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6½ |
| 7 | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2729 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Akopian, Vladimir | ARM | 2673 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | * | 5 |
