Hickl draws with Utut to remain in the lead
Hickl draws with Utut to remain in the lead
JAKARTA (JP): Grandmaster Jrg Hickl of Germany drew with
his Indonesian counterpart grandmaster Utut Adianto at the BNI
chess tournament here yesterday.
The draw, agreed on the 30th move, kept Hickl on top of the
provisional standings with 6 points, half a point ahead of his
closest rival, grandmaster Julian Hodgson of England.
Victory-hungry Utut, trying to exploit his advantage of
playing with the white pieces, offered Hickl one of his pawns on
the 10th move in order to clear the way for attacks. Hickl
accepted the offer.
But Utut, having secured his king after castling, could not
press home an attack. Hickl only did what was necessary for him
to keep his bulwark unbroken.
Utut, who seemed frustrated by being unable to set Hickl into
an attacking mode, and Hickl, who looked too lethargic to play
the match, were then involved in a series of repetitive moves
before finally agreeing to a draw.
Hickl said he felt mentally tired after fighting for days and
thus just sought a draw with Utut. According to international
arbiter Harry S. Jauhari, Hickl employed an Alekhine defense.
Hickl denied it, saying that it was his own improvisation.
The other results yesterday were (Indonesian unless stated,
those first mentioned playing white): Grandmaster Ardiansyah lost
to Ruben Gunawan on the 30th move on a King Indian defense,
Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev of Kazakhstan drew with
Grandmaster Edhi Handoko on the 22nd move on a Queen Gambit
defense, Grandmaster Ye Jiangchuan of China beat Ivan Jonathan
Situru after 33 moves on a Sicilian defense, Sjarif Machmud lost
to Danny Yuswanto on the 39th move on a Queen Gambit defense,
Grandmaster Julian Hodgson of England beat Cerdas Barus on the
44th move on a Queen Gambit defense. (arf)
Provisional ranking table after yesterday's matches:
1. Hickl 6 points
2. Hodgson 5.5 pts
3. Ruben 5 pts
4. Utut, Tkachiev, Ye 4.5 pts
5. Danny 3.5 pts
6. Edhi, Cerdas 2.5 pts
7. Ardiansyah 2 pts
8. Ivan 1 pts
9. Sjarif 0.5 pts