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Topalov and Anand Share Corus Title

Vishwanathan Anand defeated Boris Gelfand in the final round of the Corus Tournament at Wijk aan Zee to share the Corus championship with Veselin Topalov. Both players finished with scores of 9/13, 1.5 points ahead of their nearest competitors.

Going into the final round, Topalov held a half-point lead. However, Anand had the white pieces on the last day, while Topalov had black against Peter Leko - a much tougher proposition. Leko and Topalov draw, opening up the door for Anand.

While the two players are considered co-champions, Anand will take the trophy on tiebreaks.

Here are the final standings in the A section:

Anand, Viswanathan 9.0
Topalov, Veselin 9.0
Adams, Michael 7.5
Ivanchuk, Vasssily 7.5
Gelfand, Boris 7.0
Karjakin, Sergey 7.0
Leko, Peter 6.5
Tiviakov, Sergei 6.5
Van Wely, Loek 6.0
Bacrot, Etienne 5.5
Kamsky, Gata 4.5
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4.5
Sokolov, Ivan 4.0

Alexander Motylev and Magnus Carlsen traded the lead in Group B over the final few rounds, before finally ending tied at 9.0 points. Both players will be invited to play in Group A next year. In group C, Turkish GM Suat Atalik led from start to finish, coasting to a comfortable first place finish after scoring 10.5 points. Atalik's closest competitors Jan Werle and Cyril Marcelin scored 9 points. Atalik earned an invitation to next year's B group.

Here is Anand's final round victory over Gelfand, which earned him a share of first place.

White: Anand, V (2792)
Black: Gelfand, B (2723)
Corus, Round 13
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. O-O-O Nb6 11. Qf2 Nc4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Na5 Qd7 14. Rd2 Be7 15. Rhd1 Rb8 16. Bc5 Qc7 17. Rxd6 Qxa5 18. Rxe6 fxe6 19. Bxe7 Rb7 20. Bd6 Nd7 21. Qh4 Qd8 22. Qh5+ g6 23. Qh6 Qf6 24. Ne2 Kf7 25. h4 g5 26. hxg5 Qxh6 27. gxh6 Rg8 28. g4 Rg6 29. Rh1 Rb6 30. Ba3 Rf6 31. Rh3 Kg6 32. Kd2 Rf7 33. Ke3 Nf6 34. Nc3 Rd7 35. Rh1 Rc6 36. Na4 Rb7 37. Nc3 Rb8 38. Nd1 Ng8 39. Rh5 Nxh6 40. Rxe5 Nf7 41. Rh5 Rb5 42. Rh1 e5 43. Nc3 Rb7 44. Nd5 Re6 45. Bb4 Kg7 46. Rh2 Ng5 47. Bc3 Kg8 48. Rf2 Rf7 49. Rf1 Re8 50. Ke2 Ref8 51. Bxe5 Nxe4 52. Ke3 Nc5 53. f4 Re8 54. Kd4 Nd7 55. Re1 Re6 56. Re2 Nxe5 57. fxe5 Rg7 58. Nf6+ Kf7 59. Kxc4 Rg5 60. Kd4 Rb6 61. c4 Ke6 62. b3 Rb8 63. Re4 h6 64. Nd5 Rbg8 65. Nf4+ Ke7 66. e6 1-0