Israel's top chess player has bested the world's foremost chess experts to win the 2009 Chess World Cup.
Grand Master Boris Gelfand, 41, of Rishon LeZion defeated former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in the tournament, which was held in Siberia. The match was close, with Gelfand beating Ronomariov in the finals tie-breaker with a score of 7-5.
Gelfand returns home with a $120,000 prize and the right to compete in the 2010 World Championships as one of the eight best chess players in the world.
Gelfand, who immigrated to Israel from Belarus in 1998, is currently ranked sixth in the world.