Aronian goes for super principled play against Artemiev's trusty Caro-Kann. It's an opening that he likes to repeat, so no doubt Levon will have come prepared.
A possibly costly error here for Artemiev, as Aronian now has a great chance to strike in the center, starting off with a rook exchange.
A big moment here! Can Aronian spot the tactical breakthrough involving a central pawn push? If so, Artemiev's position will be on the verge of collapse!
Aronian spots it! The point is that now Artemiev's pawn is overloaded, while his king in the center is going to be feeling very exposed as lines open up.
Desperation for Artemiev. The pawn was too strong to ignore, but now knight takes bishop sets up a knight capture towards the center right after!
Aronian fails to find the right follow-up. It was hard to judge which knight capture was best, but while knight takes bishop was winning, this one leaves Levon with only a small edge. Artemiev back in the mix!
Suddenly, Artemiev has a dream endgame. Very solid, completely equal. Just what he wants from the Black side.
Aronian will not be abandoning hopes of playing for the full point just yet either though. His knight in the center is very strong, and he's got a potentially powerful bishop for now.
Artemiev just keeping solid and making sure he plays quickly. The biggest risk is the clock!
Artemiev dips below 1 minute. Will Aronian use this to try and flag him?!
Aronian has tricked Artemiev! Now he's up a pawn and with an easily winning position. The clock proved too much for Artemiev it seems.
Should be winning, but still not completely trivial. But with 12 seconds on the clock, I can't see Artemiev doing anything but losing.
This is incredible! Artemiev managed to secure a theoretically drawn endgame!
Artemiev almost did the unthinkable. From a completely losing endgame, he managed to claw his way back to equality! And he nearly bridged a huge gap on the clock to perhaps even be the side that won on time! But in the end, in a king and rook vs king and rook endgame, Aronian did what he had to do and flagged his opponent. Onto game two, where Vladislav Artemiev must try and strike back with the White pieces to level the match!
The Esports World Cup begins!
Chess has arrived at the massive world of esports, and with it comes a huge prize fund fought over by 16 of the world's best.
Chess players at EWC 2025 must progress through a GSL-style Group Stage, followed by a Playoffs bracket. During the first phase, competitors will be divided into four groups of four players. Each match in the double-elimination bracket will comprise two games of chess.
Who will handle the big stage the best? Will it be the veteran grandmasters, led by Magnus Carlsen? Or will we see the young prodigies like Firouzja or Abdusattorov make their mark felt in a format that traditionally favors youth over experience?!
We'll be kicking things off with a match between the in-form Levon Aronian, and the always tricky blitz and bullet specialist, Vladislav Artemiev.
Let's see who strikes first at the EWC in Riyadh!