Israeli chess master wins World Cup
ISRAEL'S top-ranked chess player Boris Gelfand has won the 2009 Chess World Cup.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s top-ranked chess player Boris Gelfand has won the 2009 Chess World Cup.
Gelfand, a grand master from Rishon LeZion, defeated former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in a playoff on December 14 in the Russian town of Khanty-Mansiysk to take the $120,000 top prize.
Gelfand, 41, was the No 1 seed among 128 players in the event, which had a prize pool of $1.6 million.
Ranked sixth in the world, Gelfand is now eligible to compete in the 2010 World Championships as one of the eight best players in the world.
Gelfand immigrated to Israel from Belarus in 1998.
JTA
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