Israel's Boris Gelfand finished in second place in the final round of the World Chess Championship Wednesday. He lost in the tiebreaker round to Viswanathan Anand of India, who maintains his title as world champion.
Gelfand and Anand had emerged with equal scores from the first 12 games of the final round. Each had won one game and the other ten games were draws.
They then entered the tiebreaker mode. The first of four games was a draw, but Anand won the second. The third and fourth games were also draws, making Anand the winner by a score of 2.5 to Gelfand's 1.5.
As champion, Anand will receive a $1.5 million, and Gelfand will have to make do with $1 million as runner-up.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said after the finals that "Despite the loss at the end of a fascinating and close series of games, Boris Gelfand brought great honor to the state of Israel, to its great minds and excellent athletes."
"We are proud of Gelfand and certain that he will bring great honor to the State of Israel in the future."