Utut last at Beijing

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian top men's chess player Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto suffered a humiliating loss at the Tan Chin Nam Cup championships at Hua Yuan Hotel, Beijing, after bowing out to GM Alexander Onischuk (elo rating 2627) of the Ukraine in the 30th move of the last match on Monday.

Utut only finished last with 2.5 Match Points (MP). GM Viktor Bologan (2641) from Moldova earned the sixth cup after collecting 5.5 MPs. Bologan earned a better tie-break score than GM Nigel Short (England, 2677), GM Alexei Dreev (Russia, 2676) and GM Onischuk, who all topped the standings with 5.5 MPs and pocketed US$5,250 each.

"This is my worst performance in the overall tournament," Utut was quoted by spokesman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) spokesman Kristianus Liem as saying from Beijing.

Bologan tied with host player GM Wang Zili (2603) in the last match. "I have conquered since the match began, but I made a mistake in the middle of the match and I should have lost in the last move. Luckily, Wang accepted my offer to tie," Bologan said.

Host players occupied the 5th to 8th spots. GM Ye Jiangchuan (2670) was fifth with 5 MPs, GM Peng Xiaomin (2657) and GM Zhang Zhong was sixth and seventh respectively with 4.5 MPs each, GM Xu Jun (2668) was eighth with 3.5 MPs while Wang was ninth with 3 MPs. (ivy)