Peter Leko wins the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2008 and is the new chess king of Dortmund. For the 28-year-old Hungarian, it is the third triumph after 1999 and 2002. “I am very happy to win here for the third time. I was close last year, but missed the victory. This is my biggest success this year so far and I am thrilled about it”, Leko stated after the match.

During today’s final round, Leko completed the victory by playing draw against Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany). Leko thus remained unbeaten in the whole tournament and gained the essential points by winning against Iwantschuk und Gustafsson.

Playing for the first time in Dortmund, the German Jan Gustafsson showed a strong performance throughout the whole tournament which made him lead the field after the fifth round. Finally, he draw a positive balance, “Yesterday against Peter Leko did not go so well, but overall, I am very content with the course of the tournament.”

Three times world champion Wladimir Kramnik had to pass on the winning of the last game to Wassily Iwantschuk, who, after a disappointing start into the tournament, finished with an overall ranking of a shared second place.

During interviews, it was made clear the Hungarian, the Russian and the Ukrainian team will be participating in the Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008 with the strongest teams, featuring Peter Leko, Wladimir Kramnik and Wassily Iwantschuk. Thus, thrilling and exciting pairings are to be expected in November in Dresden.