Chinese grandmaster (GM) Bu Xiangzhi won, with a 4-point margin, the Blindfold Chess World Cup in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao on Saturday.

 

Bu, 22, who tied 3-3 in his last 9th-10th-round games with Hungarian Judith Polgar, would not have had to play on Saturday to win this event since his accumulated score on Friday, 18.0 points, would have been sufficient to be crowned champion of this event.

 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian GM Sergei Karjakin defeated Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna 6-0 in their 9th and 10th round games on Saturday, while Norwegian Magnus Carlsen downed former world chess champion and Bulgarian native Veselin Topalov by 4-1.

 

The 10-round Blindfold Chess World Cup was played from Tuesday to Saturday (from October 16-20).

 

Bu was for some time the youngest player in the world to obtain the GM title when he was just 13 years old.

 

Final standings:

 

1. Bu, 21.0

 

2. Karjakin, 17.0

 

3. Carlsen, 16.0

 

4. Polgar, 12.0

 

5. Topalov, 9.0

 

6. Harikrishna, 6.0

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2007)