Current world champion Magnus Carlsen won the Isle of Man International Chess Tournament at the Villa Marina, picking up a purse of £50,000.

The Norwegian was one of 170 players in the Masters tournament, in addition to which another 70 participated in the Minor and Major sections.

The truly stellar line-up also included other elite Grand Masters such as Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura from the USA and Vladimir Kramnik from Russia.

A group of 30 chess players came from India, headed by Viswanathan Anand. Previous winners Pavel Eljanov and Nigel Short - best remembered for his encounter with former world champion Karparov in the 1990s - also entered.

Notables from the UK included Michael Adams, David Howell and Gawain Jones.

The world No.1 female chess player, Hou Yifan of China, also participated along with ’Fire on the Board’, Alexei Shirov, who rated the Isle of Man event as possibly the strongest open tournament anywhere in the world.

Uniquely the draw for round one (normally players are listed in rating order) was totally random and world No.1 Carlsen faced Orn Bardur Birkisson, rated 2,164.

The main contest of the round saw Fabiano Caruana play Vladimir Kramnik in which the US No.1 triumphed after a hard-fought middle game.

Jim Tarjan, who retired from chess several decades ago, produced a shock victory over Kramnik.

Entering the last round, Carlsen played Nakamura and, only needing a draw, the Norwegian did not push too hard. The game was a draw well before the time limit.

Carlsen finished 0.5 of a point ahead of the field with 7.5 points from nine to secure the handsome cash prize fund.

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Viswanathan Anand (India) finished on seven, each receiving cheques for £18,750.

Hou Yifan won the women’s prize of £6,000, finishing with six points.

The best performing locals were Dietmar Kolbus with 4.5 and Keith Allen on a respectable three points.

Chukwuka of Nigeria won the Major tournament convincingly with a score of six points from seven, receiving £1,200.

The leading local was Henrik Fabri who gained four points and received a prize of £100.

The Minor competition was won by Ioan-Dan Gaspar (Romania) who finished on six points, receiving £900.

Howard Dobson, chairman of IoM Chess Club, finished with five points and was presented with £500.

Organising committee chairman Alan Ormsby expressed his appreciation to the Scheinberg family, as without their generous support the tournament would not be possible.

Chess.com - the world’s largest online chess playing site - provided live commentary of the games along with interviews of players, streamed live across the globe

Thanks also go to the Department of Economic Development and staff at the Villa Marina who were very helpful and instrumental in the running of the event.

l To read more about the Isle of Man International Chess Tournament go to iominternationalchess.com

l If you would like to improve your play, IoM Chess Club meets every Wednesday at Braddan Church from 7.30pm

Alternatively, visit the www.iomchessclub.co.uk website.