Kerala's Nihal Sarin emerged the champion in the Rapid segment of Tata Steel Chess India event in Kolkata on Friday.

The 21-year-old GM from Thrissur finished first on 6.5 points, half a point better than five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

Nihal was up against Vishy in the ninth and final round. Both players did not take unwanted risks and settled for a draw from an even position. 

Nihal began the day with a draw against compatriot R Praggnanndhaa before beating American Wesley So. A third-round defeat to Arjun Erigaisi on the opening day was the only time Nihal slipped up in the event.

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Nihal was not part of the original list of 10 participants, but was included after reigning World Champion D Gukesh pulled out.

Nihal is only the third GM from Kerala after G N Gopal and S L Narayanan.

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Last year, he crossed 2700 Elo points in classical chess to become the highest-rated Malayali and enter the league of Super GMs.

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