Ivanchuk and Carlsen in Thriller

The final match of the rapid tournament in Leon, Spain, between Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen went right down to a final sudden death game in a thrilling climax to the competition.

After two draws in the opening 2 games, Ivanchuk took the lead in game 3 by taming Carlsen's Dragon.  Then, faced with a must-win situation Carlsen showed his mettle in game 4 by striking back to take the match into tie-breaks.

After the first blitz game was drawn, Carlsen came close to winning the second as he pressed hard in a Rook and Knight v Rook ending.  Despite the pressure, Chucky defended accurately and found a nice stalemate tactic to end the torture.

However, it was all in vain for the Ukrainian, as Carlsen kept his cool to win the sudden death game with the white pieces and win the match.  Congratulations to both players for a truly thrilling final!