Utut Adianto leads Madras chess tourney

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