Edhi loses in marathon chess game

Edhi loses in marathon chess game

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian grandmaster Edhi Handoko struggled
all the way yesterday in a draining game that lasted 70 moves
before succumbing to his German counterpart Jrg Hickl on the
fifth day of a chess tournament sponsored by the government-run
bank BNI.

Hickl, employing the Pirc defense, succeeded in isolating
Edhi's free pawn on the c column with his bishop on the 60th
move. This forced Edhi's king out of his strategically-laid
fortress, which paved the way for Hickl's king to back up his
free pawn on the d column.

Britain's grandmaster Julian Hodgson enjoyed the shortest game
of the day when he forced Indonesian grandmaster Ardiansyah to
resign after just 17 moves. "Ardiansyah seemed to be in haste and
blundered on the 14th move," international judge Mukmin
Panggabean said.

Yesterday's other results were: Indonesia's number one chess
player GM Utut Adianto regained his best form to beat compatriot
Ivan Jonathan Situru after 27 moves, GM Vladislav Tkachiev of
Kazakhstan outwitted Indonesia's Danny Yuswanto on the 43rd move.
GM Ye Chiang Chuan of China drew with another Indonesian, Cerdas
Barus on the 53rd move while Ruben Gunawan beat Sjarif Machmud on
the 38th move in another all-Indonesia affair.

Yesterday's victory kept Hodgson on top of the standings table
with four points, followed by Hickl and Ruben Gunawan with 3.5
points each. Utut and Tkachiev have 3 points each in third place
while Danny and Ye have 2.5. Edhi and Ardiansyah stayed on 2.
(arf)