Utut Adianto sets modest target for Dutch competition
Utut Adianto sets modest target for Dutch competition
JAKARTA (JP): The Donner Memorial tournament in Amsterdam this August will be a daunting test for Indonesia's top chess wizard Utut Adianto, in his bid for greater international recognition.
Grandmaster Utut, playing in what will be his toughest tournament ever, said yesterday he has set a down-to-earth target of improving his elo (world computer) rating by 15 in the Aug. 17-24 invitational meet.
World professional champion Grandmaster Garry Kasparov of Russia is expected to join the 12-field event. Home favorites Jan Timman and Jeroen Piket have confirmed their participation.
"For me, the Dutch outing will be the most crucial tournament of the season. I won't waste the opportunity the world chess society has offered me," an enthusiastic Utut said.
"I have something to prove there, whether I can survive in a tough tournament like I did last year," he added.
Utut carved out a distinction last year by finishing third in Biel, with surprising wins over Belarusian world number eight Boris Gelfand and Timman in the process.
The Donner Memorial will be the second out of four major events Utut has planned this year. The 31-year-old grandmaster will open the season in the Biel Masters in Switzerland, two weeks before going to Amsterdam.
Utut has also planned to play in the Chess Olympiad in Yerevan, Armenia this September and the World Championship, scheduled for December. The venue for the season-ending championship will be decided during the Chess Olympiad.
"Increasing my elo rating by 15 is a realistic prospect I think," Utut said of his campaign this year. Utut, the youngest Indonesian to hold the grandmaster title, joins the world's elite group with an elo rating of 2,610.
In preparation for the four major events, Utut will stay in Hungary for a month to have a series of discussions and games with local players, including former eight-times world champion contender Lajos Portisch.
Utut said that he would stay out of chess for the first half of the year following a late announcement from the world chess body FIDE to change the world championship format.
Utut was scheduled to play the Interzonal Tournament, the qualifying round for the world championship elimination matches in April. FIDE dropped the tournament and introduced a more popular format for the world championship, where the top 100 players will be drawn in a straight knock-out competition. (amd)