LAS VEGAS, AUG 29: Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman of Russia today became the 14th world chess champion by beating Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian of Armenia with a margin of 3.5-2.5 in the six-game world chess championship final match.Khalifman drew the sixth game in 40 moves of Modern Benoni Defence frustrating Akopian's valiant attempts to equalise the match.Khalifman, born on January 18, 1966, at Moscow, is the third successive Russian with his surname starting with `K' to be crowned world chess champion after Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. The 14th world champion is well known for his hard work in the openings and is respected for his fighting spirit which has helped him win tournaments from Moscow to New York.Khalifman produced his best in the fourth game and defeated Akopian convincingly. Thereafter, he drew both the games to pocket the match with 3.5-2.5 margin. He had become the world chess champion. The newly-crowned world chess champion was magnanimous in his praise for thevanquished.``Akopian is one of the best defenders in the world,'' he said of his opponent.
