Utut Adianto shines in Cakti chess meet

JAKARTA (JP): Utut Adianto remained on top of the standings even after drawing with Indian grandmaster Dibyendu Barua in the eighth round of the Cakti chess tournament in Madras, India, on Sunday.

The draw boosted the 31-year-old Indonesian's cumulative points total to six and a half, or half a point more than British grandmaster Anthony Miles, who beat his Indian challenger, RB Ramesh.

Despite playing with the black pieces, Utut succeeded in coercing Barua to accept his favorite Caro Kann strategy. But Barua was not caught off guard. Fully aware that he might not be able to notch a victory over the Indonesian "super" grandmaster, Barua neutralized Utut's carefully prepared attacks.

The see-saw exchanges continued until the two got weary and finally agreed to stop the game early at the 22nd move.

Yesterday marked a break from the tournament. The ninth round, starting today, will see Utut playing another Indian, Babu Sudhakar. (arf)

Results: Babu (Ind) 1 Konguvel (Ind) 0 Ramesh (Ind) 0 Miles (Gbr) 1 Tilak (Ind) 1/2 Thipsay (Ind) 1/2 Koshy (Ind) 0 Lovlu (Bld) 1 Murshed (Bld) 1/2 Prasad (Ind) 1/2 Utut (Ina) 1/2 Barua (ind) 1/2

Standing: 1. Utut Adianto 6 1/2 2. Anthony Miles 6 3. Prasad 5 4. Barua 5 5. Murshed 4 1/2 6. Babu 3

Tilak 3 8. Lovlu 2 1/2

Thipsay 2 1/2

Ramesh 2 1/2