It was a case of so near, yet so far for Krishnan Sasikiran. The Indian Grandmaster went down to former World champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and had to be content with a shared second place after the 10th and final round in the third Mtel Masters International chess tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Leading the tournament since the beginning of the second half, Sasikiran yet again missed out on a drawing chance and lost after a long struggle against Topalov, who won his third title on the trot on home turf by coming out good in the closing stages of the category-20 event.
Topalov ended up with a tally of 5.5 points after the final round and toppled Sasikiran from the top position by showing grit and determination.
It turned out to be a four-way tie for the second spot in the six-player double round-robin event, with Sasikiran, Gata Kamsky of the United States, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania gathering five points each.
Grandmaster Michael Adams of England, who showed sparks of brilliance mid-way through the tournament, ended up at the bottom of the table on 4.5 points.
In the final round, Sasikiran's was the only decisive game. Other games ended in draws, with Nisipeanu holding Mamedyarov and Adams giving little chances to Kamsky.
Results of 10th and final round: Veselin Topalov (Bul, 5.5) beat Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind, 5); Liviu-dieter Nisipeanu (Rom, 5) drew with Shakhriayr Mamedyarov (Aze, 5); Michael Adams (Eng, 5) drew with Gata Kamsky (USA, 5).