Hyderabad: The Second World Chess Cup tournament came to close at a grand function held at the picturesque Ramoji Film City on Monday with Grand Masters from across the globe converging at the venue where Vishwanathan Anand and Xu Yuhua were crowned as the King and Queen.

A glittering crystal trophy, specially designed by artisans of Indore, was presented to Anand, the reigning champion of World Chess Cup amidst thunderous applause from the big gathering of chess lovers, with the National Anthem in the background.

Xu Yuhuan, the Chinese Grand Master who retained her crown, was presented with an equally luminous trophy at the function attended by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Sport Minister P Ramulu, FIDE vice-president P T Omar Koyyar and other dignitaries.

Speaking on the occasion Naidu said the State was willing to host National and International events to promote sports in a big way.

Anand and Yuhua won the titles in the first edition of the tournament held in China in 2000. Besides the trophy Anand won the prize money of $ 46,000 while the runner Rustam Kasimdhzanov of Uzbekistan received $ 24,000.

Xu Yuhua and her opponent in the finals Antoneta Stefanova of Bulgaria were given $ 16,000 and $ 10,000 respectively. The total prize money of $ 280,000 was distributed among other players including Koneru Humpy, S Meenakshi and veteran Nigel Short of England.

PTI