Russia's Kramnik wins world chess champion title

Russia's Vladimir Kramnik became the world chess champion on Friday after winning a match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The Russian grandmaster outplayed Topalov by a score of 8.5-7.5. The main twelve games failed to identify the winner, ending in a 6-6 draw. In a tiebreaker, Kramnik gained the upper hand by 2.5 points against 1.5 points.

The competition in the Russian city of Elista has been credited with reunifying the long-divided international chess competition.

Source: Xinhua