Utut Adianto to play Kasparov in Holland
Utut Adianto to play Kasparov in Holland
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Grand Master Utut Adianto has received a rare invitation to play world chess professional champion Garry Kasparov of Russia in the Donner Memorial tournament, scheduled for Aug. 17 to Aug. 29 in the Netherlands.
The newly inducted research and development official of the Indonesian Chess Association, Eka Putra Wirya, said yesterday that the organizers of the invitational tournament picked Utut among the 12 participants due to his commendable record.
Eka and 21 other Indonesian chess body officials were swore in by Chairman of the National Sports Council Wismoyo Arismunandar yesterday. Akbar Tandjung has been named the chairman for the 1994-1998 period.
"The chess world has now begun to turn its head to the East, and Utut is one of the best choices for such a prestigious tournament," Eka said.
The tournament will feature grand masters with average elo rating of 2,650. Utut now holds an elo rating of 2,610, following his 1-4 defeat to British grand master Nigel Short here last December.
Utut is tipped to play in round-robin matches at the annual chess meet which offers each participant 3,500 gilders appearance money.
Eka said the organizers are waiting for Kasparov's confirmation. Kasparov is now playing an experimental duel with a computer in Philadelphia.
The Donner Invitational is one of four big tournaments included in Utut's agenda this year.
Utut will play in the Masters Invitational in Biel, Switzerland, two weeks before going to the Netherlands. Utut won the 1994 Biel tournament but had to be satisfied with runner-up the following year.
After the two invitational meets, Utut will lead the Indonesian team in the Chess Olympiad in Armenia this September.
World c'ship
Utut will cap the season in the US$5 million World Championship, slated for Dec. 20, 1996 to Jan. 12, 1997. Eka said that the venue for the annual world championship will be decided during the Chess Olympiad.
The world chess body FIDE has changed the format of the world championship into a more equitable one, with a title holder playing in a 100-field tournament which applies a knock out system.
In the past, a defending champion only had to wait for the contender who had to play a series of exhausting qualifying matches en route to the world championship duel.
"The world championship now gives all the chess players a better chance to win. Utut is expected to shine if the draw favors him," said Eka.
Each qualifier will receive $6,000 for the first round and the amount will double if he goes through the next round. The winner of the championship will bag a whopping $1,350,000 prize money.
Also yesterday, Machnan Kamaluddin, the re-elected executive chairman of the association, said that Indonesia will host an international women's grand master tournament for the first time ever in May.
"We want to show that we pay attention to women as well as junior players," Machnan said. Indonesia played host to the women's interzonal championships in 1993, a tournament to pick candidates to be world champion contenders.
Machnan said three top national players, Upik Damayanti Tamin, Lisa Lumongdong and Maria Lucia, have been groomed for the world tournament. Russian coach Nikolai Andrianov will help them prepare for the event. Andrianov also coached the national players for the interzonal tournament in 1993.
Machnan said that the association will send its junior players to take part in the Junior World Championships in Malaysia on June. (05/amd)