Hikaru Nakamura of the United States took the 10,000-euro first prize in the 73rd Tata Steel Tournament after an exciting scramble for the top spot in the final round of the annual Wijk-aan-Zee chess spectacular Sunday. World champion Viswanathan Anand of India finished second, half a point behind Nakamura, to earn 7,000 euros.

Nakamura, going into the final round with the smallest possible lead on Anand, was pitted with black in a Ben Oni against China’s Wang Hao, who handled the opening in an unusual way to obtain a slight edge. The advantage didn’t last for long, however. Fifteen moves into the game, Nakamura evened out and seven moves later, a draw was agreed.

At that point, Anand was certainly not better in his final-round game with black against Russian national champion Ian Nepomniashchi. He opted for a Najdorf in a last-ditch effort to catch up with Nakamura but got nowhere, until ‘Nepo’ vastly improved the world champion’s chances with a speculative exchange sacrifice on his 21st. Anand tried, of course, but "couldn’t find anything that looked convincing," as he put it himself and proposed to sign the peace 17 moves later. Apparently, he felt continuing to go for a win would be too risky.

"Disappointing," Anand told reporters. "When I reached a plus-four score, I felt I was well on my way to a final victory but Hikaru just kept winning, picking up six points in a row, which was quite amazing. But I’m not unhappy; it’s difficult to be unhappy with a plus-four score. It’s a pity I didn’t manage to win the tournament but I think I performed above my rating, which isn’t bad at all."

Nakamura was in his hotel room watching his rival’s game on the relay. "It was totally unexpected to see it ending in a draw," he told the press. "I was sort of jumping up and down around the room. I was so happy. Winning a tournament is always nice but winning an elite tournament like this is something completely different. I cannot remember the last time an American won a major tournament. I hope my victory will make for greater interest in chess back home in the States."

The tournament winner explained his "manner of playing chess has changed" of late. "I have become more serious about chess. No more 2.Qh5, no more crazy openings for me. My results have improved. Hopefully, I can keep it going. I hope to break 2800 by the end of this year," he said.

David Navara of the Czech Republic and Britain’s Luke McShane fought each other to a draw in 57 moves from a King’s Indian to share the top spot and the 5,500-euro combined first and second prize in this section of the tournament. McShane was declared Group-B winner on Sonneborn-Berger but the tournament organizers decided both players would receive an invitation to compete in Group A next year.

Italy’s Daniele Vocaturo finished first in Group C after keeping 14-year-old Ilya Nyzhnyk of the Ukraine to a draw in 39 moves with white from a Najdorf. The Italian earned 1,000 euro and an invitation to compete in the B-Group of the 2012 edition of the tournament.

Full report and crosstables on the official website