Danny produces second surprise

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian international master Danny Yuswanto produced his second surprising win when he toppled English grandmaster Julian Hodgson at the BNI chess tournament yesterday.

It was Danny's strong composure that earned him the precious victory. With the time-control ticking down at the end of the game, the two players struggled all the way to survive.

Both players had only three minutes left to finish their game when Hodgson started to lose control. He resigned after 75 moves which lasted nearly six hours, the longest game in the tournament so far.

"Every chess player -- no matter who he is -- is prone to collapse in such a nerve-racking game," international arbiter Harry Jauhari commented.

Hodgson, the tournament's top seed, suffered his first defeat after eight matches. He now shares second place on the table with Indonesia's Ruben Gunawan at 5.5 points each.

German grandmaster Joerg Hickl managed only a draw with Ruben yesterday, but remained on top with 6.5 points. He moved a step closer to the winner's US$5,000 prize money.

Danny, an up-and-down player who seeks a grandmaster standard, shocked compatriot grandmaster Utut Adianto in the fourth competition day last Thursday. Danny has to win his remaining three games if he is to take the grandmaster title.

Utut wasted the advantages of playing white when he drew with Vladislav Tkachiev of Kazakhstan. Both players shared third place on 5 points each.

Utut, Indonesia's No. 1 player, will suffer a reduction on his elo rating of 2,605 if he fails to score 7.5 points in the two- week tournament. (amd)