Anand may loose top spot after last place finish at Bilbao

Bilbao, Sep 14 (UNI) World Champion Viswanathan Anand ended his dismal campaign with a draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway to finish last in the Bilbao Grand Slam Final here.

The ace Indian is likely to loose his world number one status after finishing with eight points in this high-category tournament.

He dropped 15 rating points here.

Anand's prowess seems in doubt ahead of the World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik next month. A change of fortune before the match can work as a saver for Anand.

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria overcame Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the final round to pocket the winner's purse of Euro 150000 with 17 points and is likely to regain the number one slot in the world rankings.

Topalov won four games, more than any other player in the tournament and lost just one.

Nearest rivals Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia shared the second spot, ending their campaign on 13 points in the tournament.

However, Carlsen had the better tie-break of the two and finished runners up.

Meanwhile, Ivanchuk finished with 12 points finished his campaign sole fourth, while a late charge against Aronian helped Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan to finish fifth on 10 points.

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