Polgar victorious in JAPFA Classic
By Ivy Susanti
SANUR, Bali (JP): Both joy and sadness filled the air when nine world Grand Masters (GM) and one International Master (IM) ended their round-robin games at the JAPFA Classic International Tournament 2000 at the Grand Bali Beach hotel here on Tuesday.
GM Judit Polgar of Hungary could not hide her excitement when rival GM Gilberto Milos Jr. of Brazil gave up in 44 moves with the Sicilian defense. She won the US$56,500 tournament and received $20,000 from the total purse.
Former world champion GM Anatoly Karpov and his successor GM Alexander Khalifman agreed to tie in the 64th move using the Petrov defense. Both Russian players share $8,750.
At another table, IM Zaw Win Lay of Myanmar also had his day in the sun.
He ended a series of consecutive defeats and draws when he defeated GM Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia in the 62th move with the Modern defense.
Indonesian top player GM Utut Adianto drew with GM Yasser Seirawan of the United States in the 21st move using the Queen Gambit defense.
Utut's fellow countryman GM Ruben Gunawan, however, stayed cool despite his loss to GM Jan Timman of the Netherlands in the 56th move using the Queen Indian defense.
Given the results, Judit earned 6.5 Victory Points (VP), followed by Karpov and Khalifman with 6 VPs. Milos followed with 5.5 VPs and received $5,000.
Seirawan finishes fifth with 5 VPs and wins $4,000.
Timman will see his elo rating cut down to 15 points as he only earned 4 VPs, along with Utut. But Utut will have his elo rating increased five points.
Both share $2,750.
Ehlvest finishes eight with 3 VPs. He gets $2,000. Ruben and Zaw earn 2.5 VPs each and share $1,250. But Zaw will get an enormous cut in his elo rating.
State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mahadi Sinambela closed the tournament on Tuesday night and immediately opened the JAPFA Classic International Open Tournament 2000, which is attended by 15 GMs and 17 IMs. The tournament will last until May 11.
Competitive
The 23-year-old Polgar dashed out of the arena and back to her room with a huge smile on her face after beating Milos. She was accompanied by her boyfriend Gusztav Font.
She told reporters afterwards that she was satisfied with her performances because she was able to outshine all of her competitors.
"I'm satisfied. To win in a tournament certainly gives me a good feeling. I have been playing against men all of my life but that isn't the main reason for my happiness. The main reason is that the tournament is attended by good players, and it's great to win here," she said.
She also added that she benefited from Milos' anxiety.
"Everybody plays well but I'm sure that Milos was pretty nervous. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to do and that's bad when you're not sure of yourself."
After the draw, Karpov, who was the FIDE world champion from 1975 to 1985, and then again from 1993 to 1999, and Khalifman -- the 1999 FIDE world champion -- slogged back to their rooms and refused to talk with reporters.
Zaw said that he was happy with the final results despite a cut in his elo rating.
He will lose 20 points.
"I'm happy although I only won one out of nine games. This is the first time that I've played in a strong tournament in the 16th category," he said, adding that he could've tied with Ehlvest but the latter made a blunder in the 39th move.