Karpov outlasts Utut in thrilling tussle

JAKARTA (JP): World champion Anatoly Karpov displayed rock- steady nerves to beat Indonesian challenger Utut Adianto in a tense quarterfinal tiebreaker at the Intercontinental Rapid Chess tournament in Cap d'Agde, France, on Wednesday.

Both chess masters had scored one win each in the normal two- round quarterfinal format, before Karpov sent Utut reeling in the blitz-chess decider played over two five-minute games.

Karpov took total control of the first tiebreaker game despite the fact that he was playing black. His persistent attacks left Utut no choice but to resign although he still had one minute left, compared to Karpov's 30 seconds.

In the second game, a relaxed but flawless Karpov never let Utut take command. Two back-to-back checks from Karpov gave Utut no other option but to agree to a draw.

Utut blamed his defeat on a blunder he committed in the first game of the scheduled matches. Playing black, he had a clear possession advantage before he initiated an unlikely exchange of bishops on the 41st move.

The swap dented Utut's efforts to isolate Karpov's king in the center of the board, and worsened his chances of forcing a draw or win. Karpov struck back, needing just three moves to make Utut resign.

Smarting from the blunder, Utut blitzed Karpov in 26 moves in the second scheduled game to pull level. It was Karpov's first loss in the tournament.

Utut's manager Eka Putra Wirya was far from disappointed, despite his player's defeat in the tiebreaker.

"Fantastic. He played a nearly excellent game that matched those of the world-class masters. I'm proud of him, despite the upset defeat," Eka said.

He added he would give Utut more opportunities to play in international tournaments next year in a bid to increase his current elo rating of 2,610 to 2,700.

In the World Age Group Chess Championships in Valencia, Spain, Indonesia's Susanto Megaranto maintained his unbeaten run after drawing with fourth seed Andre Volokitin of Ukraine in a marathon fourth-round match on Wednesday.

Competing in the Under-12 category, the 11-year-old Indonesian defended strongly to frustrate an attack-minded Volokitin. They agreed to a draw after 67 moves played over five hours.

The result put Susanto half a point clear of Volokitin on top of the standings with 3.5 points.

Fellow Indonesian Taufik Halay notched up his first draw, in a match against Bulgarian ninth seed Andre Chevalinov. Taufik has now accumulated 1.5 points after a win, two losses and a draw. (amd)