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