"degenerated into farce'' because of technical hitches during an Internet global link-up.

The problems, at the Kasparov Chess Online Grand Prix at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, resulted in a match being handed to a UK grandmaster because the computer he was playing "blew its fuse''.

Members of the Bermuda Chess Association were drawn into the chaos, which took place during an invitational event they were hosting.

British player Michael Adams, the seventh best player in the world, was playing against a computer programme, Deep Junior, when the game fell apart.

First, the computer Adams was using failed, then the Internet connection overseas crashed and eventually Deep Junior stopped making its moves. The problems were so bad that Adams was finally declared the winner.

Nick Faulks, co-president of the Bermuda Chess Association, said the whole episode was a "shambles''.

"We kind of wish it hadn't gone on, it was a real nuisance,'' he said. "The whole set-up wasn't up to it.'' Adams' game was being played in Bermuda, against a computer in Israel, with a tournament director in New York and an arbitrator in Moscow.

"There were no Internet problems in Bermuda, there were certainly Internet problems in Israel,'' said Mr. Faulks.

"Kasparov World (the organisers) saw exactly what was happening. We didn't know what was going on, all we knew was that the computer wasn't playing any moves.'' A report in the English Daily Telegraph added: "Astonishingly the Kasparov Chess technical team and the programmers of Deep Junior did not have a back-up internet service provider to supply an alternative connection.'' Eventually Adams claimed the game and proceeded to play Garry Kasparov in the semi-finals of the $52,000 contest -- a game which he lost.