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

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)