Utut Adianto leads Madras chess tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Grand Master Utut Adianto took the lead in the Cakti chess tournament in Madras, India, after a win over India's Konguvel on Tuesday.

The victory put Utut on top of the standings with 2.5 points, followed by English Grand Master Anthony Miles, International Master Ramesh of India and Grand Master Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh who each collected 2 points.

Playing the advantageous white pieces, Utut hardly batted an eye when he forced Konguvel to quit after 30 moves. The Indonesian shrugged off the King Indian defense which turned into a Saemich variation offered by Konguvel with ceaseless attacks from the start.

Top seed Miles played his best Sicilian defense to beat Devaki Prasad of India, while Ramesh upset compatriot Grand Master Dibyendu Barua.

Utut, the first Indonesian to reach an elo rating of 2,600, will play black pieces against Ramesh in the next game.

Utut, making his first international outing this year, needs 5.5 points more in the remaining nine games to maintain his current elo rating of 2,610. His rating will soar to 2,615 if he manages 8.5 points and 2,620 if collects 9 points in the round- robin competition.

He beat Praven Thipsay of India and drew with Miles in the previous two matches.

The invitational tournament features 12 players, eight of them from India. (amd)

Standings: 1. Utut 2.5 pts 2. Miles 2

Ramesh 2

Murshid 2 5. Babu Sudhakar (Ind) 1.5 6. Barua 1