Five times winner Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a second place finish following a draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the 13th and final round of 73rd Tata Steel Chess tournament in Netherlands.
The world champion could draw a big consolation from the fact that he would be the number one ranked player all over again as the results here proved that he will be overtaking world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the next rating list to be released in March.
Hikaru Nakamura of United States own the title after drawing his final round game with Wang hao of China. For the records, Nakamura tallied 9 points in all, a half point more than Anand in this category-20 super tournament between 14-players. The American not only performed way beyond his rating of 2751 but also finished ahead of the world's top four ranked players. Anand got the better position with his black pieces but could not find a breakthrough AS Nepomniachtchi simply got an impregnable position in the endgame arising out of a Sicilian defense game.
The Indian ace settled for a draw in 37 moves. "When I reached a plus-four score (Four wins and rest draws), I felt I was well on my way to a final victory but Hikaru just kept winning, picking up six points in a row, which was quite amazing. "But I'm not unhappy; it's difficult to be unhappy with a plus-four score. It's a pity I didn't manage to win the tournament but I think I performed above my rating, which isn't bad at all," the World Champion said. The third place was shared by Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian ace settled for a draw in 37 moves. "When I reached a plus-four score (Four wins and rest draws), I felt I was well on my way to a final victory but Hikaru just kept winning, picking up six points in a row, which was quite amazing. "But I'm not unhappy; it's difficult to be unhappy with a plus-four score. It's a pity I didn't manage to win the tournament but I think I performed above my rating, which isn't bad at all," the World Champion said. The third place was shared by Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia.
{{/usCountry}}Sasikiran Held
Gibraltar: Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran was held to a draw by Swiss veteran Viktor Korchnoi in the sixth round of the Tradewise Gibraltar.