Utut beats Karpov in third round

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Grandmaster (GM) Utut Adianto showed his supremacy by defeating GM Anatoly Karpov in the third round of the Clash of the Titans at Omni Batavia Hotel.

Yesterday's victory is Utut's second against Karpov. Utut won the blind chess Friday but lost Thursday in the same category.

Utut beat Karpov in the 61st move. Enthusiastic spectators gave Utut's victory a standing ovation.

"Fantastic! Utut played very well and showed his supremacy in chess against Karpov, who in elo rating is far from Utut," Jamil Jamal told The Jakarta Post after the match.

Jamil is the Indonesian Chess Association's secretary and a chess player. In yesterday's match, Jamil was the referee.

GM Ardiansyah also gave Utut the thumbs up when he said: "That was a good game. Everybody, including myself, was stunned by Utut's brilliant moves."

Ardiansyah was Indonesia's second player to obtain grandmaster status. The first was Herman Suradiredja and Utut, third.

Ardiansyah, however, showed optimism that Utut could beat Karpov again in today's match, which also features classical chess.

"I saw that mentally, Utut's was strong and he did not make any false moves. All his moves could not be countered by Karpov," Ardiansyah.

When asked whether Utut could beat Karpov in today's match, both Jamil and Ardiansyah could not comment.

"It's difficult to say because Karpov has a better hand of the white pieces tomorrow (Sunday). I only hope that Utut will be stable in his moves, as he was today (Saturday)," Jamil said.

Utut started the play with the white pieces. He opened the game with a Nimzo Indian defense. This is Karpov's favorite opening. Karpov was surprised by Utut's opening.

Throughout the scheduled two-hour game, Utut continued pressing Karpov by sacrificing most of his pieces, such as the Queen, Bishops, Knights and pawns.

In the 45th move, both players had the same amount of pieces, two rooks and four pawns. They were both careful in their moves because there was the possibility of a draw.

Utut tried to avoid the draw and challenged Karpov by putting his rook to Karpov's rook. Karpov directly took Utut's rook which later was taken by his pawn.

Utut continued by moving his pawn because he was aiming for a Queen. Karpov became helpless as there was no way he could checkmate Utut's King.

In the 61st move, Karpov saw there was no way he could win the game and resigned.

Utut said that his victory over Karpov was because he showed good strategy.

"I was really prepared for the game and changed my strategy by continuously pressing Karpov without giving him any way to win," Utut said.

Asked whether he could win over Karpov on Sunday, Utut only said: "I would certainly like to win but a draw is already good enough for me."

The winner of the six-round contest will receive US$30,000 and the loser will receive $20,000. (lnt)