Donetesk wins cities chess tourney
JAKARTA (JP): The Ukrainian city of Donetesk won the World Cities Chess Championships here with 29 Match Points (MP) after drawing with Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City 2-2 in a last round match lasting just seven minutes yesterday.
Holding a huge lead going into the last round, the Donetesk team offered draws after only a few moves in all four games and Ho Chi Minh City was in no position to refuse.
Donetesk was favorite to win the event and the US$10,000 first prize.
Moscow (Russia) was second with 28 MP and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) was third with 24.5 MP. They won $7,000 and $5,000 respectively.
In other final round action Moscow beat ninth seed Depok Beji 3.5-1.5.
Bandung was the big local achiever, finishing equal fourth with Oslo (Norway) with 23.5 MP.
The inaugural World Cities Chess Championship featured 30 teams from 14 countries. Twelve Indonesian cities competed.
The championship featured 17 Grandmasters, 15 International Masters and three women International Masters.
The assistant to the minister for youth and sport affairs, Iman Sujudi, closed the tournament.
The 1998 World Cities Championship will be held in Singapore.
In other chess new the Gunadharma International Chess Open Tournament starts in Singapore today.
An organizer said about 100 participants, including 40 foreigners, would compete.
"The tournament will be staged in ten rounds," said Singaporean Ignatius Leong who is also chairman of International- Chess Asia.
The event will feature 15 Grandmasters. (03)
Final round results: Donetesk vs Ho Chi Minh 2-2, Moscow vs Depok Beji 3.5-1.5, Tashkent vs Mandaluyung 2-2, Yangon vs Bandung 2.5- 1.5, Oslo vs Medan 3-1, Sydney vs Depok Margonda 2-2, Ambon vs Depok Kelapa Dua 2-2, Jakarta BNI vs Jakarta A 3.5-1.5, Palu Intan vs Kaula Lumpur 3-1, Yogyakarta bt Sentosa 3-1, Jakarta Enerpac bt Bogor 3-1, Rafles City drew with Kuching 2-2, Mandalay bt Hong Kong 2.5-1.5, STMIK Jakarta bt Noumea 2.5-1.5, Bontang bt Victoria 4-0
Rankings: Dontesk 29 MP, Moscow 28 MP, Tashkent 24.5 MP, Oslo and Bandung 23.5 MP, Ho Chi Minh 23 MP, Yangon 22.5 MP, Mandaluyong 22 MP, Jakarta BNI, Sydney and Palu Intan 21.5 MP, Depok Margonda, Depok Kelapa Dua and Ambon 21 MP, Yogyakarta and Medan 20.5 MP, Depok Beji 20 MP, Bontang 19.5 MP, Jakarta A and Jakarta Enerpac 19 MP, Mandalay and Sentosa 18.5 MP, STMIK Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Rafles City 18 MP, Kuching and Bogor 15.5 MP, Hong Kong 14.5 MP, Noumea 9.5 MP and Victoria 8 MP