In the first game of the first round tournament 1/8 finals of the FIDE Grand Prix series kicked off in Moscow Armenia chess team leader Levon Aronyan competed with black pieces against Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and lost on the 72nd move.

The Armenian GM will play the second round with white pieces on May 18.
The tournament is held in a knock-out format. GMs play two classical games. In case of an equal score the struggle will be continued in a tie-break by the rules of fast and blitz chess.
16 chess players take part in the tournament.