Draws mark 1st day of chess meet

JAKARTA (JP): Lackluster draws marked the first day of the 11- round chess tournament being sponsored by the government-run bank BNI at the Kartika Chandra hotel in South Jakarta yesterday.

But Indonesian number one grandmaster Utut Adianto broke the trend. Playing the advantageous white pieces, Utut beat his second best grandmaster Ardiansyah after 47 moves of tooth and nail tension.

Grandmaster T. Kachiev of Kazakhstan and his rival GM Julian Hodgson of England shared a half-point benefit at the 14th move. Title holder Syarif Machmud of Indonesia and his opponent Ye Zhiang Chuan of China failed to break the deadlock before agreeing to a draw at the 24th move.

Another Indonesian, Cerdas Barus, and his pal, Ivan Jonathan Situru, seemed to know how to value time, and the money that comes with it, as they ended in a standoff at the 13th move.

"They seemed to lose zest, perhaps because today is the first day," remarked international judge Djamil Djamal. (arf)