Hearty congratulations to Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler, who today won the final of the World Chess Cup against compatriot and friend Alexander Grischuk.

After a tenacious month of cut throat knockout chess in the tiny Siberian town of Khanty Mansiysk, Svidler emerged as clearly the best player of the 128-strong event.  And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Proof that you don’t need to worry too much about opening theory to succeed in chess.  Proof that you can, in fact, win with the black pieces at top level.  Proof that nice guys don’t always finish last.

But, most importantly, proof that you can love cricket more than chess and still get away with the odd million or two in chess prize money.  There’s hope for us Aussies yet.