Haik Martirosyan beats Aronian and tops the Blitz
The next best thing to winning the tournament is considered to be, beating the champion of the tournament. Arjun could not do it, Haik managed to do that. In fact, the Armenia no.2 is the sole player to remain undefeated against Levon Aronian in both Rapid and Blitz events. Aronian managed to beat the remaining ten players at least once in either Rapid or the Blitz event. That is certainly a unique feat achieved by Haik.
As we mentioned in our previous report, the key game for Arjun to win the tournament was the first game of the day against the Armenia no.2, GM Haik Martirosyan. The game ended in a draw.
Levon Aronian won the tournament with a round to spare. Thus, a last round against a former compatriot, Haik Martirosyan, did not deter his championship chances. He has never lost against Aronian in rated games.
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Blitz Round 22 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||
| 1 | 12 | 2508 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | ½ - ½ | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2737 | 6 | |
| 2 | 5 | 2809 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 0 - 1 | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | 2770 | 7 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2712 | GM | Kramnik, Vladimir | 1 - 0 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | 2591 | 8 | |
| 4 | 3 | 2651 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 1 - 0 | GM | Hou, Yifan | 2601 | 9 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2601 | GM | Gelfand, Boris | ½ - ½ | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | 2727 | 10 | |
| 6 | 1 | 2440 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | ½ - ½ | GM | Vakhidov, Jakhongir | 2568 | 11 |
Blitz standings after Round 22
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 7 | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | ARM | 2770 | 15,5 | 0 | 165,50 | 12 |
| 2 | 5 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2809 | 15 | 0 | 150,00 | 11 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2651 | 13 | 1 | 139,00 | 10 |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2727 | 13 | 1 | 129,75 | 8 |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2737 | 12 | 0 | 116,75 | 9 |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2712 | 11,5 | 0 | 113,75 | 9 |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | UZB | 2591 | 10,5 | 0 | 106,25 | 8 |
| 8 | 11 | GM | Vakhidov, Jakhongir | UZB | 2568 | 10 | 1,5 | 106,50 | 6 |
| 9 | 2 | GM | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2601 | 10 | 0,5 | 105,25 | 2 |
| 10 | 12 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2508 | 8 | 1 | 82,00 | 3 |
| 11 | 9 | GM | Hou, Yifan | CHN | 2601 | 8 | 1 | 76,75 | 5 |
| 12 | 1 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | KAZ | 2440 | 5,5 | 0 | 64,50 | 2 |
