Bandung wins Asian Cities Rapid Chess Tournament
Bandung wins Asian Cities Rapid Chess Tournament
JAKARTA (JP): The Bandung team, spearheaded by Indonesia's
number one GM Utut Adianto, won the BIC Club Asian Cities
Invitation Rapid Chess Tournament in Hong Kong on Monday.
The victory is the second for Indonesia. A Jakarta team won
the equivalent tournament in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in
1990.
The last day of the tournament saw a "civil war" between two
Indonesian cities, Bandung and Bekasi, and another between two
Filipino cities, Mandaluyong and Manila.
No winner emerged from either battle. Bandung tied 2-2 with
Bekasi and Manila held Mandaluyong, also 2-2.
Bandung, with the highest accrued Victory Points of 22.5
before taking on Bekasi, had already won the tournament a day
prior to its conclusion on Monday. Mandaluyong came in second
with 21.5 after its 2-2 draw with Manila.
The Bandung team, led by its Asia's number three Utut, looked
every inch a winner from the start of the three-day competition.
Until the tourney's seventh round, Bandung enjoyed a dream
run. It trounced Bangkok 3.5-0.5 in the first set and routed
India's Naghpur with the same score in the second round.
In the third set, Bandung crushed Manila 4-0, then flung aside
India's Neyveli 3-1 in the fourth. Manila is the Philippines'
Chess Olympic team, headed by number one Filipino player GM
Antonio Rogelio.
Bandung slowed down to a 2-2 draw with Mandaluyong in the
fifth set, but chalked up a 3-1 win over Myanmar's Yangon in the
sixth and flogged Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh team 3.5-0.5 in the
seventh.
The other Indonesian team participating in the Hong Kong meet,
Bekasi, finished fifth. The number of victory points it
collected, 17.5, was the same as those garnered by Hong Kong and
Dubai. Bekasi suffered three defeats at the hands, respectively,
of Mandaluyong (1.5-2.5), Neyveli (also 1.5-2.5) and Naghpur (1-
3).
A total of 18 clubs from 11 countries took part in the
tournament. Asian powerhouse China and the new Asian countries of
the former Soviet republics did not participate, perhaps because
it was only a rapid, as opposed to a regular, chess meet.
Another Asian powerhouse, India, kept the continent's number
one, Viswanathan Anand, at home, sending only moderate teams.
However, Vietnam sent its number one, Master International Tu
Huang Thai, who managed to force Utut into accepting his offer
for a draw after 60 exacting moves. (arf)
Final standings
1. Bandung (Ina) 24.5
2. Mandaluyong (Phi) 21.5
3. Manila (Phi) 20.5
4. Ho Chi Minh (Vie) 19.5
5. Bekasi (Ina) 17.5
6. Hong Kong 17.5
7. Dubai (UEA) 17.5
8. Bangkok (Tha) 17
9. Yangon (Mya) 17
10. Neyveli (Ind) 16.5
11. Phuket (Tha) 16
12. Naghpur (Ind) 15.5
13. Singapore 15
14. Kowloon 15
15. Penang (Mal) 12
16. BIC Club Hong Kong 11.5
17. Macao 9
18. Taita (Macao) 5