Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian has won his first match of the FIDE World Rapid Championship currently underway in Moscow, Russia.

Aronian defeated Ukraine's Eldar Gasanov on Thursday, December 26.

More than 250 chess players, including reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Anish Giri (the Netherlands), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) are participating in the tournament.