Hickl beats Danny to extend chess lead

JAKARTA (JP): German grandmaster Jrg Hickl beat Indonesia's Danny Yuswanto yesterday in the resumption of their adjourned match to extend his lead at the BNI chess tournament.

Hickl employed his stubborn King Indian defense to force the Indonesian to resign at the 42nd move. The victory kept Hickl on top of the provisional standings table with 5.5 points, one point clear of his closest rival grandmaster Julian Hodgson of Britain.

It was the only match played yesterday, which was a day off for the other players. Hickl came to the 12-man tournament at the last minute in place of Indian grandmaster Dibyandu Barua, who was ill.

Both Hickl and Danny have now played six matches, the same number as their counterparts.

International arbiter Harry S. Jauhari said that Danny, having the advantage of playing white pieces, could have forced Hickl to a draw if he had not been too passionate with his attacks.

"At the 36th or 37th move Danny stood a good chance to redirect the course for a draw. But he didn't notice it," Harry said. He added that overlooking the defense while launching attacks was common among Indonesian chess players with low elo ratings.

Today, Indonesia's number one chess player Utut will take on Hickl. GM Vladislav Tkachiev of Kazakhstan meets Indonesian grandmaster Edhi Handoko, GM Ye Jiangchuan of China will play Indonesian international master Ivan Jonathan Situru, another Indonesian master Sjarif Machmud will entertain his compatriot Danny Yuswanto, GM Julian Hodgson of England will tackle home player Cerdas Barus and Indonesian FIDE Master Ruben Gunawan will try his senior, GM Ardiansyah. (arf)