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The semifinal tie-breaks were played on Thursday at the World Cup 2017 underway in Tbilisi, Georgia, with the Armenian GM Levon Aronian defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and made it to the final.  

As the National Olympic Committee reported, on the day of tie-break games, Aronian lost the first rapid game but hit back immediately to level the scores. Thereafter the next four blitz games ended in draws. Finally, in the Armageddon game, Aronian won with white pieces in 78 moves. In the Armageddon game, a player with black pieces gets four minutes to white’s five and needs only a draw to be adjudged the winner. In this case, facing a must-win situation, Aronian came out stronger.

Levon Aronian will play in the final of the World Cup against Ding Liren. Both of them have qualified for the FIDE Candidates tournament which will take place on March 2018. The winner of the Candidates tournament will play in the World Championship Match against Magnus Carlsen. 22nd of September is a free day.

The final of the World Cup will be held in the Biltmore Hotel in Tbilisi. Levon Aronian has white pieces in the first game which starts at 3 pm local time on September 23.