NEW DELHI, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - French grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev lost his chess match against India's Praveen Kumar after he fell asleep in a drunken stupor at an international tournament in Kolkata, an official said.

According to the official, Tkachiev did not appear to be drunk at the start of the match, however, after about 15 minutes the Frenchman fell asleep and could not be woken.

One of the tournament officials, Soumen Majumder, was cited by the Indian Express as saying, "What happened is unfortunate. It's in bad taste. Once the event is over, we will hold a meeting and decide how to proceed against this player."

Tkachiev was in such a state he had to be carried off and Kumar was declared the winner.

Russian-born French chess player Tkachiev, aged 35, is an accomplished chess player, ranked 58th in the world, a former European champion who recently won the French championships.