Draws mark 1st day of chess meet

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)