King's Tournament Final Report

The Final Round in Bucharest ended peacefully on both boards

After all 6 rounds at the 2012 King's Tournament, Ivanchuk and Topalov tied for first with 3.5/6 and 2798 and 2796 performances, respectively.  In a tiebreak match, Ivanchuk won 1.5-0.5 when Topalov flagged in Game 1 despite being up a pawn to become the 2012 King's Tournament Champion (Ivanchuk also won the 2009 King's Tournament by a full point ahead of 2nd place, 2012 World Championship Contender Boris Gelfand, ending with a 2875 performance).

In Round 5,

Caruana - Ivanchuk was drawn in 31 moves in a Najdorf: English Attack (B90)

Topalov - Nisipeanu ended 1-0 in 40 moves in a Queen's Indian: 5.Qc2 (E15) to catch Ivanchuk at 3.0/5

Round 6 saw the clash of the two leaders of the tournament, Ivanchuk and Topalov.  However, neither was able to win to win the tournament outright, giving Caruana a chance to catch up with a Round 6 win.  Unfortunately, both games were drawn in Round 6:

Nisipeanu - Caruana was drawn in a perpetual in 30 moves in a Scotch: Four Knights (4.d4) (C47)

Ivanchuk - Topalov was drawn in 32 moves in a Meran System (D47)

Final Standings:
1-2. Ivanchuk, Topalov - 3.5/6
3. Caruana -  3.0/6
4. Nisipeanu - 2.0/6

Live Rating Changes:

Ivanchuk (2763, 2798 Performance): +3.2 to 2766.2, #9 on the Live Ratings (+2)

Topalov (2769, 2796 Performance): +2.4 to 2771.4, #8 on the Live Ratings (=)

Caruana (2786, 2733 Performance): -4.2 to 2781.8, #5 on the Live Ratings (=)

Nisipeanu (2668, 2648 Performance): -1.4 to 2666.6, #87 on the Live Ratings (-3)

Congratulations Vassily Ivanchuk!