August 12, 2013 - 10:30 AMT
Aronian wins 1st round game of FIDE World Cup

Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian won the 1st round game against Mikhail Markov of Kazakhstan at FIDE World Cup in Tromsø, Norway.

Sergei Movsesian and Hrant Melkumian played in a draw with Jon Ludvig Hammer (Norway) and Julio Granda Zuniga (Peru).

Vladimir Akopian suffered a defeat by Nguyen Ngoc Trung Son (Vietnam).

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout, starting with 128 players. Two games are played between each pair of players. The rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. The winner and the runner-up of the World Cup 2013 will qualify for the Candidates Tournament of the next World Championship cycle.