GM Utut falls to amateurs

JAKARTA (JP): Grand Master Utut Adianto ultimately bowed out to amateur chess players during his warm-up tour prior to the JAPFA Classic International Chess Tournament 2000 in Sanur, Bali, from April 22 to May 2.

Michael and M. Arief Ujianto, both JAPFA employees, beat Utut in a three-hour match in his 200th chess game on Thursday. Overall, Utut played 200 chess games and only tied seven times.

The next games will be held at Sahid Hotel, Lampung, on Monday, with the tour to end on March 31 at Gedung Bundar Sultan Suriansyah in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, JAPFA's spokeswoman Artsanti Alif said on Friday.

The US$56,500 JAPFA tournament in Bali is limited to international players with elo ratings over 2600, including GM Anatoly Karpov (Russia, 2656), GM Alexander Khalifman (Russia, 2656), GM Judith Polgar (Hungary, 2658) and Jan Tinman (the Netherlands, 2655).

Utut, who has an elo rating of 2584, will represent Indonesia in the tournament, along with Ruben Gunawan (2510). (ivy)