Armenian GM Levon Aronyan ended a series of nine draws with a tenth round victory over Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan on Wednesday at the closing international chess tournament in Spanish Linares.

The victory did not help the Armenian chess ace, who has stayed unbeaten throughout the six-man tournament, to challenge the Bulgarian winner Veselin Topalov, who gathered 6 ½ points and took the top prize. Russia’s Alexander Grischuk (6 points) is second in the final standings, followed by Aronyan (5 ½) in the third position.

Spain’s Francisco Vallejo, Israel’s Boris Gelfand and Azerbaijan’s Gashimov gathered 4 points each, but placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, according to their current ratings.

(Full results are available on the tournament’s official website)

Meanwhile, Aronyan will take part in another prestigious chess tournament, Amber Blindfold and Rapid, to be held in Nice, France, on March 13-25. The tournament brings together a set of leading players, including Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich and Sergey Karjakin, Israel’s Gelfand, Azerbaijan’s Gashimov, Ukraine’s Vasiliy Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomaryov, Cuba’s Leinier Dominguez and Holland’s Jan Smeets.

Aronyan was overall winner in the Amber tournament in 2009.