Sunday, October 15, 2006 Kramnik is unified Fide king
AFTER the standard match ended with a 6-all tie, Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik won the thrilling four-game rapid tie-break match to become the new FIDE World Chess Champion last Friday in Elista, Kalmikia.
Kramnik’s victory in the last game while playing the white pieces dethroned Vesselin Topalov of Bulgaria with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tiebreaker.
The Russian surged ahead after inking a Game 2 victory, where he bested Topalov in 45 moves of a Slav Defense game.
Kramnik erected the advantage after making an exchange sacrifice of his rook to Topalov’s bishop on d4 in the 41st move.
Topalov bounced back from defeat with the white pieces in 50 moves of another Slav Defense encounter. (JAF)
