Lev Aronian Triumphs In Sochi Grand Prix
After a quiet penultimate round, which produced only one decisive game (which didn't affect the leaders), there was great excitement in a dramatic final round as Lev Aronian won against Alexander Grischuk to hold onto his half-point lead and emerge victorious in the second FIDE Grand Prix in Sochi.
Teimour Radjabov finished in second place after defeating Sergey Karjakin with the Sicilian Dragon, winning an amazing and picturesque ending of Knight and Four Pawns versus Rook!
Gata Kamsky moved up the field into a share of third place (with Wang Yue) by beating David Navara. Well done Gata! He now travels to Moscow to compete in the Tal Memorial event starting 18 August - as do Vassily Ivanchuk and Boris Gelfand. Look out for a preview of this exciting event soon! I hope Gata is collecting loyalty points for all these air miles! 
Peter Svidler beat Vugar Gashimov to leapfrog him in the standings and Dmitry Jakovenko finished with a win against a fading Ivan Cheparinov.
The results in round 12:
| Radjabov, Teimour | - Aronian, Levon | ½-½ | 26 | C45 | Scotch Game |
| Wang Yue | - Navara, David | ½-½ | 69 | D86 | Gruenfeld Simagin |
| Kamsky, Gata | - Gashimov, Vugar | ½-½ | 47 | A30 | English Symmetrical |
| Svidler, Peter | - Jakovenko, Dmitry | 1-0 | 80 | D37 | QGD 5.Bf4 |
| Grischuk, Alexander | - Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | 25 | E21 | Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3 |
| Cheparinov, Ivan | - Al-Modiahki, Mohamad | ½-½ | 74 | B67 | Sicilian Rauzer |
| Gelfand, Boris | - Karjakin, Sergey | ½-½ | 26 | E35 | Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 |
The results in round 13:
| Aronian, Levon | - Grischuk, Alexander | 1-0 | 42 | D47 | Queens Gambit Meran |
| Jakovenko, Dmitry | - Cheparinov, Ivan | 1-0 | 50 | C67 | Ruy Lopez Berlin |
| Karjakin, Sergey | - Radjabov, Teimour | 0-1 | 52 | B78 | Sicilian Modern Dragon |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | - Wang Yue | ½-½ | 41 | C43 | Petroff's Defence |
| Gashimov, Vugar | - Svidler, Peter | 0-1 | 75 | C92 | Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
| Navara, David | - Kamsky, Gata | 0-1 | 40 | D87 | Gruenfeld Botvinnik |
| Al-Modiahki, Mohamad | - Gelfand, Boris | ½-½ | 20 | B51 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
The final standings in the Sochi FIDE Grand Prix:
| 1 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2737 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8½ |
| 2 | Radjabov, Teimour | AZE | 2744 | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2704 | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7½ |
| 4 | Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2723 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 5 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2738 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | RUS | 2709 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 7 |
| 7 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2727 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2781 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 6½ |
| 9 | Gashimov, Vugar | AZE | 2717 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6½ |
| 10 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2728 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6 |
| 11 | Cheparinov, Ivan | BUL | 2687 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6 |
| 12 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2720 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| 13 | Navara, David | CZE | 2646 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | 4 |
| 14 | Al-Modiahki, Mohamad | QAT | 2556 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | 4 |
So a great result for Aronian, but the winner of the Grand Prix series will be the player with the best three scores from their four appearances.
So far there are eight players who have played in both of the first two events, in Baku and Sochi, and the standings are as follows:
| Wang Yue | 15.5 |
| Vugar Gashimov | 14.5 |
| Teimour Radjabov | 14.0 |
| Alexander Grischuk | 13.5 |
| Peter Svidler | 13.5 |
| Gata Kamsky | 13.5 |
| Ivan Cheparinov | 11.5 |
| David Navara | 9.5 |
So Wang Yue of China is setting the pace. Many congratulations! The next Grand Prix event will be in Doha, Qatar, from 13-29 December.
