Stefanova punishes Danny's erratic play in Makita<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
GM Antoaneta Stefanova took advantage of a flurry of mistakes
\nby IM Danny Juswanto to secure a win and a point in their fourth-
\nround game at the Makita-Lakoni International Grand Master Chess
\nTournament here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Another visiting grand master was also victorious, with GM Zhu
\nChen stopping IM Susanto Megaranto, while GM Utut Adianto had to
\nsettle for draw with IM Hoang Thanh Trang.<\/p>\n
Zhu from China, who won the female world championship in 2001
\nagainst Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia in Moscow, now leads the
\nstandings with three points.<\/p>\n
Stefanova follows with 2.5 points while Utut and Danny are
\ntied half a point behind. Susanto, the youngest player in the
\nfield, remains in fifth with 1.5 points followed by Hoang with a
\npoint.<\/p>\n
It was Stefanova's second win over Danny, following the 2002
\nWismilak tournament in which the Bulgarian emerged as the winner.<\/p>\n
Thursday's game was a comeback performance for Stefanova after
\nher loss to Utut on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Asked if she thought she had a chance to win the tournament,
\nshe said: \"Yes, at the moment. But there are still many rounds to
\ngo. Each of us has an equal chance of winning.\"<\/p>\n
Stefanova punished Danny for loose play which saw him make a
\nstring of early mistakes.<\/p>\n
After 43 moves, Stefanova ended their Queen's Bishop game in
\nher favor.<\/p>\n
\"Danny made many mistakes in the opening,\" the 2002 European
\nchampion told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"From the early stage, Danny built a terrible position. He
\nsacrificed three pawns for an attacking initiative but it proved
\nhard for him to break in. Stefanova had her free pawn on the d
\ncolumn, which Danny could not stop from being promoted,\"
\nKristianus Liem, a chess columnist, said.<\/p>\n
In other matches, Susanto put up a tough fight against Zhu,
\nboth extending their balanced position to the end of the game.<\/p>\n
\"They were fighting until the end. Susanto was running out of
\ntime, making him uneasy and erratic,\" Kristianus said.<\/p>\n
Kristianus, who is the spokesperson for the Indonesian Chess
\nAssociation, said the visiting women's players had proven that
\nthey are truly strong contenders in the tournament.<\/p>\n
Utut said that the draw was a fair result in his encounter
\nwith Hoang, given that Hoang played good defense throughout.<\/p>\n
\"I tried to take an attacking initiative as early as the 13th
\nmove by trading my rook for two minor pieces. I got an extra two
\npawns as compensation.<\/p>\n
\"However, Hoang defended well. She always had an answer to
\nevery move I made,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With both players finding headway impossible, a draw was
\nagreed to after 43 moves.<\/p>\n
Utut will face Susanto, his prodigy whom he has touted as
\nIndonesia's next great player, in the fifth round of the
\ntournament on Friday.<\/p>\n
Hoang will play Stefanova while Danny will try to bounce back
\nagainst Zhu.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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