Harikrishna finishes fifth

After earning his second Grandmaster's norm, 14-year-old International Master P Harikrishna of India drew his final game against IM Bosboom Manuel of The Netherlands to finish fifth in the overall standings of the Corus Grandmaster B chess tournament in Wijk Ann Zee.

GM Mikhail Gurevich of Belgium played a quick draw with IM Van Der Weide Karel of The Netherlands to stamp his authority on the tournament.

Gurevich tallied eight points out of a possible 11 and earned himself a seat in the next year's group 'A' tournament where he will match wits with the best in the world.

13-year-old IM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan finished a clear second with a well crafted victory over Nico Vink of Netherlands. Interestingly Radjabov comes from Kasparov's birthplace, Baku.

Kasparov was pleased with the performance of his country cousin and the fact that he finished higher than Harikrishna.

"I'm glad to see that once again the boy from Baku came ahead of the boy from India," the highest-rated chess player in the world said, referring to Vishwanathan Anand finishing second to him in the senior tournament.

Results of the final round:
Mikhail Gurevich 8 drew Karel Van der Weide 6;
Thomas Luther 7 drew Friso Nijboer 7;
P Harikrishna 6.5 drew Manuel Bosboom 5;
Boris Gulko 5.5 drew Yge Visser 4;
Nico Vink 2.5 lost to T Radjabov 7.5;
Erik Hoeksema 1.5 lost to Dennis De Vreugt 5.5.