Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte settled for a quick draw with Grandmaster Vasilios Kotronias of Cyprus in the ninth and final round to finish fourth in the premier event of Hastings International Chess Congress in Hastings, England, on Monday evening.

Slow-starter Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson finished his campaign in style with an emphatic victory over top seed Grandmaster Vladimir Epishin of Russia and tied for the top place with Kotronias.

The joint winners tallied six points each out of a possible nine and Epishin, who was leading the tournament till the last round, had to rest content with the third place.

The Indian garnered five points to finish behind Epishin.

The fifth spot went to last year's winner GM Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark (4.5), who signed peace with GM Mark Hebden of England in the last round. Ukrainian teenager, International Master Kateryna Lahno and Hebden tied for sixth place on 4 points apiece.

The eighth position was shared by GM Stuart Conquest of England and IM Alexander Cherniaev of Russia on 3.5 and English IM Danie Gormally finished last in this 10-player contest on 3 points.

Many thought the last round would be devoid of much excitement but Rowson proved expectations wrong after Kotronias drew with Kunte after just 13 moves with white against the Berli defence.

Rowson, who has also authored a bestseller titled 'The Seven Deadly Chess Sins", was at his best in beating Epishin with white.

Up against a Nimzo Indian, Rowson employed the Casablanca variation and went for the Queen side Castling that prompted Epishin to sacrifice a pawn.

The middle game looked slightly dangerous for white till Rowson could get his pieces coordinated in the centre and Epishin kept looking for the counterplay thereafter.

The exchange of queens on the 33rd move left the Scot with an extra pawn in the endgame and he handled the remaining complexities in copybook fashion. Epishin called it a day after 57 moves.

The day's only other decisive game also went to the wire as Cherniaev, who had a good start, tried hard to finish on a winning note.

The Alapin variation with white pieces did not yield much against Conquest but it left room for a long battle where the latter erred in the endgame and lost a pawn. Cherniaev finished the game by delivering checkmate on move 88.

Hebden played solidly to hold Nielsen in a French defence game where the former played white. Choosing one of the off beat variations of Tarrasch system, Hebden could only secure a miniscule advantage that was neutralised by Nielsen with routine exchanges. The draw was agreed to after 36 moves after the players reached a minor piece ending.

Lahno drew her final game with Gormally in a Queen's Indian defence game as black. The 14-year-old Ukrainian had little difficulty in equalising after trading the queens. The game lasted 26 moves.

Results ((final round): Jonathan Rowson (6, Sco) beat Vladimir Epishin (5.5, Rus); Vasilios Kotronias (6, Cyp) drew Abhijit Kunte (5); Mark Hebden (4, Eng) drew Peter Heine Nielsen (4.5, Den); Alexander Cherniaev (3.5, Rus) beat Stuart Conquest (3.5, Eng); Daniel Gormally (3, Eng) drew Kateryna Lahno (4, Ukr).

Final standings: 1-2. Rowson, Kotronias 6 each; 3. Epishin 5.5; 4. Kunte 5; 5. Nielsen 4.5; 6-7. Hebden, Lahno 4 each; 8-9. Conquest, Cherniaev 3.5 each; 10. Gormally 3.