Karpov shows his class to beat Utut in JAPFA Classic
Karpov shows his class to beat Utut in JAPFA Classic
By Ivy Susanti
SANUR, Bali (JP): Indonesian Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto
bowed under pressure to chess legend GM Anatoly Karpov in the
fifth round of the JAPFA Classic International Tournament 2000 on
Thursday.
The country's top player said after the match that he was
seeking a draw with Karpov but the Russian's precise moves and
experience were too strong. Utut gave up to Karpov in the 41st
move, using the "Queen Indian defense".
Another Indonesian player GM Ruben Gunawan agreed to a tie
with GM Yasser Seirawan of the United States in the 22nd move,
also with the Queen Indian defense. GM Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia
drew with GM Jan Timman of the Netherlands in the 30th move using
the Sicilia defense, and GM Gilberto Milos Jr. of Brazil tied
with GM Alexander Khalifman of Russia in the 24th move with the
Nimzo Indian defense.
GM Judit Polgar of Hungary, the only woman chess player in the
16th category tournament, defeated International Master (IM) Zaw
Win Lay of Myanmar in the 70th move in an arduous match which
took about six hours and 30 minutes.
Using the Sicilia defense, Polgar retained her black knight,
bishops and two pawns while Zaw was left with his knight and
bishop at the end of the match, which was held at Grand Bali
Beach hotel here.
With the result, Polgar remains atop the standings with 4
Match Points (MP), followed by Karpov (3.5 MP), Khalifman,
Seirawan, and Milos (3 MP each), Ehlvest (2.5 MP), Utut and
Timman (2 MP), Ruben (1.5 MP) and Zaw (0.5 MP).
Utut attempted to innovate in the 16th move by fielding his
black pawn to c5 instead of c7, the usual approach.
Karpov was unfazed and turned on the pressure.
"I give an aggressive response in the 16th move but I was
under constant pressure after that. Although I won one pawn
against him, it wasn't enough for me to escape from the pressure
because his arrangement become more centralized," he said.
He said he held a second chance on the 24th move to make
matters even.
"In the 24th move, my knight should have seized his pawn at
a4. But I fielded my bishop at b7 instead. In the next move, he
got my rook. I was forced into making the wrong moves."
Utut was not downcast from the loss.
"I lost but I still have other games to play tomorrow. I'm
happy with my performance, because I produced a new initiative
and the iniative was played in a high-level tournament."
Mastery
He also praised Karpov for his mastery of the game.
"Karpov's performance today was superb. It reminded me of his
form when he was still in his golden years. His moves were very
accurate and precise. He had the answers to all my moves."
Thursday was the ninth time that Utut challenged Karpov, who
was the FIDE world champion from 1975 to 1985, and then again
from 1993 to 1999. Utut won two of the matches, drew three times
and lost four times.
Ruben and Seirawan traded praise after their match. Ruben
acknowledged that Seirawan was accurate with his moves and
Seirawan lauded Ruben's choice to move his white knight from e4
to c5 in the 20th move.
On Friday, the matches are Ehlvest vs Seirawan, Ruben vs
Milos, Polgar vs Khalifman, Utut vs Zaw and Timman vs Karpov.