Karpov wins first 'Clash of Titans'

JAKARTA (JP): FIDE world chess champion Grandmaster (GM) Anatoly Karpov of Russia beat in a tough challenge yesterday Indonesia's GM Utut Adianto in the first round of the Clash of the Titans at Omni Batavia Hotel yesterday.

Karpov won the match in the 52nd move because of the limited time given to both players.

Karpov and Utut started the first round of the five-day match playing blind chess.

Both players sat calmly on their chairs writing their moves in notebooks.

The notations were presented to the committee who then put them into the computer.

Utut, who made the first move with a white piece, opened the match with the Spanish move.

Utut played well until the fifth minute, pressing Karpov into a series of tight spots.

But Karpov calmly avoided all Utut's moves and pressed him into a corner where he could not move freely.

At the 28th move of the 50-minute match, Karpov was still in the better position, preventing Utut from moving around the board with ease.

Karpov continued his supremacy until the 45th move.

With the 50th move, Utut dragged Karpov into a draw.

This did not succeed as five seconds into the 52nd move, Utut lost on time and Karpov was declared the winner.

"It was a tight match and I didn't expect that Utut showed a good play," Karpov said.

Utut admitted that Karpov was the better player but said that the tearing out of the pages of his notebook had made him quite nervous.

"I had difficulty tearing each page out. This made me rather nervous since we were playing to time," Utut said.

"The match would have ended with a draw if I had been given more time.

"Next time, I have to be cautious about the time," Utut said.

The second round, also blind chess, will be played today with Karpov opening with a white piece.

Today's match will start at 5:30 p.m.

Two hundred spectators watched the match in the hotel's ballroom.

A huge screen was erected so the spectators could watch the players' moves.

Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Hayono Isman opened the match with top model and actress Tamara Blesvnsky making the first move.

Cholid Ghozali, vice chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association, and a number of chess analysts attended the match.

The duel match will be played in six rounds.

Each round will consist of three games: blind chess, classical chess and rapid chess.

The winner of the four-day match, sponsored by the Tamara Group, will receive US$30,000.

The loser will receive $20,000.

Karpov will also receive a $10,000 appearance fee.

Karpov arrived in the capital Wednesday with his wife, Natalia Boulanova.

Karpov ranks fourth in the world with an elo rating of 2,745. Utut ranks 53rd with an elo rating of 2,610. (lnt)