ELISTA, Russia – Russia's Vladimir Kramnik won a match against Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov in a tiebreaker Friday, becoming the first universally recognized world chess champion since 1993.
Kramnik won the tension-filled match by a score of 8.5-7.5 in a final day of quick, time-limited games.
Each of the 41-year-old players was to receive US$500,000 for taking part in the match, which was arranged to heal a 13-year-old schism in the chess world dating back to World Champion Garry Kasparov's withdrawal from the World Chess Federation.
Kramnik secured his victory in the fourth game Friday, which Kramnik won with White. Friday's score was 2.5-1.5.
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