GM Utut seeks to break jinx at chess worlds
Musthofid, Jakarta
Indonesian chess grand master GM Utut Adianto will go to the world chess championships hoping to improve his performance from previous years.
The 2004 World Chess Championship will be held in Tripoli, Libya, from June 18 to July 13. The knock-out tournament features 128 players but does not include three former champions who are boycotting the event.
GM Ruslan Ponomariov, GM Alexander Khalifman and GM Viswantahan Anand will not join the field because they disagree with the competition format applied by world chess governing body FIDE.
Other players have also opted out in protest against the Libyan chess administration, which bars Israeli players from joining the tournament.
Utut's best performance in his previous appearances was a second-round qualification in 1997 and 2000. He exited in the first stage in 1999, while he failed to qualify in 2001.
Despite his past results, Utut was optimistic about the latest challenge and said he would be fighting for a place in the semifinals.
"I will leave for Tripoli with confidence in my abilities. I hope I'm still in Tripoli when the next presidential election takes place here," Utut said, referring to the poll on July 5.
Despite being an underdog, Utut said it was possible to have a good run, citing the South Korean team's performance at the 2002 World Cup.
"After taking part in a number of World Cups, Korea finally beat the odds to reach the semifinals," he said.
"It's now or never. I'll return home with the best result," Utut said.
Although the tournament is deprived of an elite group of players, it is by no means an easy field.
Utut's first challenge will be against GM Evgeny Alekseev of Russia, who has a world rating of 2616 compared to Utut's 2591.
If he overcomes this first hurdle, an increasingly stronger match awaits with GM Vladimir Akopian (2689, Russia), GM Viktor Bologan (2665, Moldova) and GM Nigel Short (2712, England) being the likely opponents.
Utut, who took his ticket for the world championship after finishing in the top ten in the qualifying tournament in Dubai in 2002, has recently finished a 10-day training regime with GM Tibor Karolyi of Hungary in Jakarta.