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