Vassily Ivanchuk Wins Kings Tournament
Vassily Ivanchuk was victorious in the Kings Tournament in Bucharest after winning a tie-break playoff with Veselin Topalov.
The pair had finished level on 3½/6 after they drew their final round game with each other. Fabiano Caruana was unable to win his game with black against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and had to settle for third place after drawing all his games in the tournament.
The rapid playoff games were played at a time control of 15 minutes plus 3 second increment.
Despite the time increment, Topalov somehow lost on time in the first game in a superior position. Ivanchuk then achieved the draw he needed in the second game to take victory 1½-½.
The final results cross-table
| Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2769 | * | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3½ |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2763 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3½ |
| Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2786 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | 3 |
| Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2668 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | * | 2 |
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Caruana was unable to beat Nisipeanu in the final round
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Topalov drew with black against Ivanchuk in the final round, but lost the playoff
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Photos from the official website. Games via TWIC.
