Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan recovered from a precarious position early on to beat Michael Adams of England 1.5-0.5 in the tie-breaker to win the World Chess Championship in Tripoli, Libya, on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Kasimdzhanov won the first of the two 25-minute rapid tie-break games and then played out a draw in the second to annex the title.
Earlier, the six-game final had ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
The Uzbek earned a purse of US $100,000 and a match with the world's top rated player, Garry Kasparov, as part of the reunification process.
Adams will get US $70,000.
Living up to his reputation of being a tough player to beat in tie-breakers, Kasimdzhanov came back from the jaws of defeat in the first game of the rapid round but made excellent use of a series of errors by his rival to romp home.
In the next game, Adams failed to deliver the goods with his black pieces and settled for the draw that gave the Uzbek the title.
Prior to this triumph, Kasidmzhanov's big claim to fame was his entry in to the finals of the last World Cup, where he was humbled by India's Viswanathan Anand.
Kasinmdzhanov deserved to win the championship as he was the only player in the field to have beaten four top players -- top seed Veselin Toploav of Bulgaria, third seed Alexander Grishchuk of Russia, fourth seed Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and second seed Adams.
And, quite interestingly, all his victories against the cream came in the rapid tie-break games.
The Uzbek's win left Adams to rue the missed opportunities, as he had spoiled a clear winning position in the sixth game of the match on Monday, which could have given him the title.
In the first game of the tie-breaker, Adams was cruising with extra material when suddenly disaster struck him.
A Sicilian Rossolim almost spelled doom for Kasimdzhanov but the Uzbek survived, thanks to some last minutes heroics well aided by Adams's blunders.
Soon after the opening, Adams had an extra exchange and a passed pawn on the sixth rank but a series of bad moves saw him losing all his extra material and also his confidence as the ensuing endgame could also have been easily drawn.
Capitalising on Adams's mistakes, Kasimdzhanov came out with an extra piece and had only to play a few correct moves thereafter to force resignation.
In the second game, Kasimdzhanov stuck to the exchange variation of Ruy Lopez and had little difficulty in maintaining the balance.
Quick exchanges led the game to a level Bishop and pawns endgame and the drawn result was never in doubt. Adams agreed to the inevitable on his 48th turn.