Heading into the last day of the Julius Baer Generation Cup Prelims, Levon Aronian holds the 13th position in the rankings while only the top eight players advance to the Knockout stage of the event. Levon Aronian yesterday had a hard day as he lost the first three games to Le Quang Liem, Navara, and Niemann, but then scored an important victory against Anish Giri to keep his chances to qualify for the next phase. “So far I am playing so badly that any points that I get are kind of a miracle,” said Aronian after joining the live studio. (Day 3 recap can be found here)
Speaking about his 21-move loss to Hans Niemann, Aronian said: “I think it was a strange game. I think that Hans played very very strange moves at some point and I think that I lost my concentration and blundered“. Answering the question if his play against Niemann was influenced by the ongoing Carlsen – Niemann drama, Levon said: “I don’t really care about drama. I am not deflected by any of that. But when I am playing badly there is nothing to be done“. See the complete interview below
Read more: Levon Aronian Day 2 interview: I believe Niemann hasn’t been the cleanest person when it comes to online chess
