Viswanathan Anand capped a wonderful fortnight with not just the title at the Morelia-Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament but also ensured that he would be listed world number one in the ratings to be released in April.
It marked the first time in a decade that Anand, who has been in world's top-3 for last 15 years, that he will officially be rated as No. 1 in the world. He won the World Championships in 2000, but Garry Kasparov was world No.1 then.
In the final round, Anand eschewed all risks and played a draw against Vassily Ivanchuk. That took his tally to 8.5 points and with Magnus Carlsen, his closest rival, losing his final round to Peter Leko, Anand sealed the title.
Anand won by a full point at 8.5 points and Topalov ended shared last with Leko with six points.
In another surprise result Alexander Morozevich beat Peter Svidler, finishing shared second with Carlsen.
The big disappointment, apart from Veselin Topalov, was Peter Leko, who played 53 points worse than his 2749 rating and was saved from an even more dismal result by his final round victory over Carlsen.
Anand last won in Linares in 1998.
Results of Round 14: Svidler lost to Morozevich; Ivanchuk drew with Anand; Topalov drew with Aronian; Leko beat Carlsen
Final Round 14 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan IND 2779 8.5; 2. Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2690 7.5; 3. Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2741 7.5; 4. Aronian, Levon ARM 2744 7.0; 5. Svidler, Peter RUS 2728 7.0; 6. Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2750 6.5; 7. Topalov, Veselin BUL 2783 6.0; 8. Leko, Peter HUN 2749 6.0
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