Leon Mendonca ended his poor campaign in 15th place in the 16-player Kramnik Challenge online rapid chess tournament on Sunday.
In the three rounds on the final day, Mendonca lost to eventual champion Germany’s Vincent Keymer, USA’s Balaji Daggupati and drew with China’s Zhu Jiner to finish with five points from 15 rounds.
In the two previous legs of the Challengers Tour, for rising talents, R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh had emerged champions.
In a thrilling finish, Keymer overtook overnight leader Awonder Liang by inflicting a defeat in the 14th round.
Keymer now gets to play in an event on the elite Meltwaters Champions Chess Tour.
