Topalov wins Mtel Masters, Sasikiran finishes second

Sofia, May 21 (UNI) Bulgarian Grandmaster Veselin Topalov successfully defended his Mtel Masters title by outmaneuvering Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran in an exciting final round game here.

Sasikiran, who was leading the six-player double round robin tournament till the penultimate round, lost the plot to his more fancied rival's calculated game and settled for a second place.

The Indian Grandmaster tied on five points with four other players, but declared second by virtue of his higher number of victories.

For Topalov, it was his third title of the tournament in succession.

Topalov exploited the advantage of playing with white pieces and surprised his Indian opponent early in the game.

Sasikiran, however, bounced back with some good moves but the exchange of Knights after the 45th move tilted the game towards Topalov who gave a check to black king on the 48th move with the help of his three open pawns slowly converted the game into victory.

Sasikiran was not, however, disappointed but rather happy by the result in the prestigious tournament.

''It was a nice experience. In fact, I hope to learn a lot by analyzing these games. My overall result considering that I was leading the tournament with one point after the seventh round is quite good. I played much better but towards the end I was getting tired and the quality of my games deteriorated,'' Sasikiran told UNI after the match.

A jubilant Topalov told UNI, ''I think Sasi played well but he needs more experience to play under pressure.'' The other two final round games ended in draws. Michael Adams signed peace with Gata Kamsky in what turned out to be the longest game of the tournament while Nisipeanu and Mamedyarov also split pointed.

Final Standing: 1. Veselin Topalov (5.5) 2. Krishnan Sasikiran (5.0) 3. Shakriyar Mamedyarov (5.0) 4. Gata Kamsky (5.0) 5. Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu (5.0) 6. Michael Adams (4.5) UNI