Alavi ends Taufik's unbeaten chess run

JAKARTA (JP): FIDE Master Alavi Moghaddom of Iran ended Indonesian Taufik Hallai's unbeaten run at the world youth chess championships in Cannes, France, early yesterday.

Taufik, who had not lost a game through the eighth round and had thus far collected 6.5 Victory Points, was defeated by Alavi in the ninth round.

Taufik lost on the 35th move after an Indian King opening. He was competing in the 10-years age category of the championships, Antara reported.

Taufik admitted that Alavi was a better player and hard to beat. After the match, Taufik analyzed his performance with Grandmaster Utut Adianto.

Utut was in Cannes following his defeat at the world championships in Gorningen, the Netherlands.

The world chess championships involved 100 world-class players. It is continuing until January next year. The winner will face FIDE world champion GM Anatoly Karpov of Russia.

"Alavi is a good player and tough to beat. He memorizes all the moves used by world-class chess players. Taufik is no match for Alavi," Utut said.

Utut added that Alavi's Indian King opening was a good opening, once used by GM Alexander Beliavski of Ukraine in the 1985 preliminary world championships against John Nunn of England. Beliavski eventually won the game.

Alavi's victory puts him on top of the rankings in his category with 8.5 VP. He only needs one more point to win the championships. The tournament ends today.

Taufik's chances of winning are very slim as he slipped from second place below Alavi to sixth place.

In the 14-years age category, Bagas Prama Ananta won over Nathamie Slamang of South Africa on the 14th move after a Sicilian Dragon opening.

Bagas has collected 4.5 VP from two wins, five draws and five losses.

Susanto Magaranto, who is competing in the 10-years age category, only managed to draw against Ganzorig Erdene of Mongolia. Susanto has collected 5.5 VP from four wins, three draws and two losses.

Evie Lindiawati, the only female in the Indonesian team, lost against Emesse Kiss of Hungary. She has 4.0 VP. (lnt)