Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian defeated France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to reach the World Chess Cup final in Tbilisi, Georgia on Thursday, September 21.

In another game, China's Ding Liren defeated Wesley So of the United States to also reach the final round, which is slated for Saturday.

After beating their rivals at the pen-ultimate match, both Aronian and Ding secured their spots at the Candidates' Tournament.