Indonesia's Utut reaches FIDE World chess c'ships second round
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)