Indonesia's Utut reaches FIDE World chess c'ships second round
JAKARTA (JP): Grand Master Utut Adianto of Indonesia cruised to the second round after overcoming International Master Imad Hakki of Syria 1.5-0.5 Victory Points (VPs) on the second day of the US$3.5 million 2000 FIDE World Championships in New Delhi Tuesday.
Utut, whose elo rating is 2583, had his turn to play the white pieces and opened the match by moving his d4 pawn. Hakki, with an elo rating of 2429, put pressure on Utut to play his sharp Benoni defense but Utut calmly moved e3 to play with queen Gambit opening.
In the seventh move, Utut managed to fulfill his plan to force for a queen trade between the players. If Hakki turned down his offer, he would have lost time.
Utut had a second win at the 15th move when Ke4 forced for a trading of two bishops and one knight. That left a pair of rooks, a knight and six pawns on the chess board.
In the 21st move, Utut forced a trade of knights and once again Hakki didn't refuse. But Hakki agreed to Utut's offer of a draw on the 35th move after he left one rook and two pawns on the board.
"When I started my match, I had thought of winning it. But I told myself that I should not seek the chance of increasing my elo rating in a major competition like this one. It's too precious," he said, as stated at www.ututadianto.com.
"I sought a draw because I wanted to take a rest while the other players are still playing their play-off matches," said Utut, who is still suffering from influenza. "I'm going to visit the Indonesian embassy tomorrow and enjoy New Delhi in the chilly weather."
Utut managed to equal his result in the 1997 World Chess Championships in Groningen, the Netherlands.
Utut will face Grand Master Peng Xiaomin of China with an elo rating of 2657 on Thursday. Peng qualified for the second round as his elo rating is above 2650.
Utut has already met Peng at the Tan Chin Nam Cup in Beijing in July. The match ended in a tie.
The second round draw will take place after all of the players have finished their first round play-offs.
Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that Joel Lautier of France, seeded 30th, lost to Brazil's Rafael Leitao. He lost the first of two games and was held to a draw in the second by a lower-rated Leitao.
Top names in the tournament, including defending champion Alexander Khalifman of Russia, Britain's Michael Adams and Nigel Short, and India's Viswanathan Anand, are not due to play until the second round.
Russia's former champion Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik are not participating after Kramnik beat Kasparov in an informal world title round in London earlier this month.
Former FIDE world champion Anatoly Karpov was also skipping the event.
In the women's section, world junior champion Hoang Thanh Trang of Vietnam lost both her games against Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania and was eliminated.
In the men's section, 36 first round winners and 28 seeds will play in the second round, while 29 winners and three direct seeds will compete in the women's second round. (yan)