Chess

Armenia’s number one chess master Levon Aronyan is taking part in the Tal Memorial in Moscow, Russia (November 5 to 18). His opponents are Anand, Kramnik, Carlsen, Leko, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Svidler, Ponomariov.

After seven rounds Aronyan with 3 ½ points shares the 4th-6th places with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Israel’s Boris Gelfand. The leader is Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik (5 points), followed by India’s Viswanathan Anand (4 ½ points) and Ukraine’s Vasiliy Ivanchuk.

The main event will be followed by the World Blitz Championship (November 16-18).

(Source: armchess.am)

Soccer

Armenia’s longtime soccer champion FC Pyunik (Yerevan) formalized their 2009 national title by beating in the last 28th round of the league their main rival this season Mika 4-0. A hat trick in the game was scored by Pyunik and Armenia striker Markos Pizzelli.

With 65 points, Pyunik thus earned their ninth straight title (and twelfth overall). Mika finished second with 58 points. In Round 28, Ulis beat Ararat 3-2 and finished third with 53 points, leaving Banants (44 points) in the fourth position. Gandzasar, Shirak and Kilikia finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, while last season’s runner-up Ararat finished in the last eighth place and has been relegated from the league.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s U-21 team are preparing for Euro-2011 qualifiers against Estonia and Ireland. The matches are scheduled to take place at Republican Stadium in Yerevan on November 14 and 17, respectively.

Currently, head coach Flemming Serritslev’s charges are bottom in six-nation qualifying Group 2, with four defeats in as many games. Also in the group are Switzerland, Turkey and Georgia.

(Source: FFA)

Unarmed self-defense

An Armenian unarmed self-defense fighter has won a bronze medal at world championships, reports Armenian sport news website sportinfo.am.

Ashot Danielyan (62 kg) became a bronze medalist at the championships held in Thessalonica, Greece. Another representative of Armenia Vahan Hovhannisyan finished fifth.

Unarmed self-defense (Russian acronym Sambo) is a modern martial art, combat sport and self-defense system developed in the Soviet Union.

(Source: www.sportinfo.am)