Karpov rallies to win Clash of the Titans

JAKARTA (JP): FIDE world champion Grandmaster (GM) Anatoly Karpov of Russia defeated Indonesian GM Utut Adianto 5.5-3.5 in the Clash of Titans which ended yesterday at Omni Batavia Hotel.

For the victory Karpov received US$ 30,000 while Utut took home $20,000. Karpov also received $10,000 as an appearance fee.

The match started on Thursday with a game of blind chess, followed by another game of blind chess on Friday, games of classical chess on Saturday and Sunday, and ended yesterday with two games of rapid chess plus three games of lightning chess.

After Sunday's games Utut led 2.5-1.5 but yesterday only added one point while Karpov took four points. The Russian collected 1.5 points from the first two games, of rapid chess, and 2.5 points from the lightning chess.

In the first round of rapid chess, Utut played with the white pieces and used the Rio Lopez opening.

Throughout the 20 minutes of the scheduled 25-minute game, the atmosphere was tense as both players played defensively.

From the 30th move until the 33rd move both players only played around with their knights. Observing there was no way to break the deadlock, Utut offered a draw which was accepted by Karpov. The score became 3-2.

The second game was also tense but Karpov closed it out on the 49th move, leveling the score at 3-3.

As both players had the same score, the organizer added five games of lightning chess with each game being only five minutes.

The first game ended in a draw. But Karpov was in no mood to surrender easily and gave no openings for Utut to win the second and third games. Karpov won the two games and the final score was 5.5-3.5.

With the score 5.5-3.5, the organizer canceled the remaining two games and gave the victory to Karpov.

Utut admitted that Karpov was a better player but said he was disappointed in the first game of the lightning chess.

"I should have won the game. I was too nervous and wasted a lot of moves which should not have been made. If I had been more careful, I am certain I could have won the game," Utut said.

Utut considered his defeat yesterday as a good lesson and promised to do better in the coming world championships in Switzerland next month.

"I consider my defeat as a good experience for me. What I want to do now is to concentrate on the world championships as this will be very tough for me. I will face world-class grandmasters."

Karpov, conversely, considered Utut a good player and said he was very tough to beat.

"I am surprised that Utut played so well. I hope that he can improve his technique," Karpov said.

Several chess experts commented that Utut played poorly yesterday and was too nervous.

"I don't understand why Utut played so badly today (Monday). He made many blunders," one pundit who asked to remain anonymous told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

But GM Ardiansyah praised Utut and said: "Utut only lacked experience compared to Karpov, who has played in more than 100 tournaments."

The final day of the duel was witnessed by State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung, the Indonesian Chess Association's chairman, and the association's vice chairman, Cholid Ghozali.

Akbar said when closing the clash that he hoped that the duel would help popularize chess in Indonesia.

"I only hope that chess can become as popular here as in Russia. If this was the case, we could create more good players like Utut," Akbar said. (lnt)