Utut and Polgar draw in 1st match of rapid chess duel

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Grandmaster Utut Adianto shocked Hungarian Grandmaster Judith Polgar by obtaining a draw after 44 moves in the first match of their duel yesterday.

The draw was made in 22 minutes of the 25-minute rapid game and was considered by chess experts as probably the best play ever by both players.

Utut played with the black pieces and used the Karokkan opening, his favorite approach. He continued pressing Polgar from the beginning until the 18th move but the Hungarian player showed her high class by controlling the game from the 19th move until the 43rd with a variety of attacks.

It was on the 44th move when Utut and Polgar saw there was no likely outcome apart from a draw although they had three minutes left.

Jamil Jamal, a chess expert and the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) secretary, told The Jakarta Post that Utut had played consistently and managed to counter most of the attacks from Polgar, who has a elo rating of 2,675 and is ranked 19th in the world.

"I consider their match as excellent and maybe the best I have ever seen. Utut played very consistently and calmly. He did not show any sign of retreat," Jamil said.

Utut and Polgar are playing for US$16,000 (Rp 37.6 million) in prize money. The winner will receive $10,000 and the loser $6,000.

The contest will run for seven days until Dec. 18 at Wisma Tugu. It is open to the public and a large monitor showing the moves is being provided to facilitate viewing.

Yesterday's match was the first of the four rapid games. Today, Utut will play with the white pieces.

The match was broadcast live by the Indonesian radio station RRI.

Polgar will also play a simultaneous game with 25 players from the Gunadarma chess school. She will receive $2,500 for the game.

The Hungarian star arrived in Indonesia Sunday and her entourage includes her sister Sofia and her parents. She spent a day in Bali where she was greeted by chess fans.

She said before the first match that she will try her best to defeat Utut.

"Utut is a good player and must be faced with caution," Polgar said to chess fans in Bali.

In an earlier match, MI Maria Ratna Lucia defeated Sofia on the 41st move. It took Lucia one hour and 48 minutes to beat Sofia.

Sofia will again play Lucia as well as playing two games against other local chess players MI Upi D. Tamin and MI Lisa Lumondong.

Sofia will receive $2,500 as a fee for her appearance. (lnt)