WR Chess Masters: Aronian and Gukesh to face off in final round
GM Levon Aronian evaded a second consecutive loss by the skin of his teeth in round eight of the WR Chess Masters 2023. After making an unsound piece sacrifice, he managed to draw GM Andrey Esipenko and keep his dreams of title victory alive, Chess.com reported.
The two leaders, Aronian and Gukesh, will be paired in round nine. Aronian will have the white pieces. Half of the participants are on 3.5 points, with three wins out of 40 games (29 draws) among the bottom five players.
When asked to pose together to show some sort of rivalry for tomorrow, Aronian put his hand around Gukesh's shoulder and said, "We are all friends!", ChessBase India reported.
The last round begins on Saturday, February 25, at 5:00 a.m. PT/14:00 CET.
A prize fund of 130,000 Euros is up for grabs.