Utut dreams of top four at world chess
Musthofid The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Indonesia's No. 1 chess grand master Utut Adianto will be heading to the world chess championship with high hopes for a place in the semifinals.
"I have high confidence in this tournament. Hopefully, I can reach semifinals," Utut told The Jakarta Post here.
The world chess championship will run from June 18 to July 13. The majority of the matches will be played in Tripoli, Libya, and a few will be in Valetta, Malta.
Utut has qualified for the tournament through the Asian Championship in Dubai last year.
It will be the fourth edition of tournament Utut has qualified since 1997. Although he could never go beyond the second round in his previous appearances, Utut says he sees a striking way up further this time around.
"For me, it's now or never. Surely, I still have the striking weapon," he said.
Utut gave the Indonesian chess team only gold medal at the recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in December but put in a somewhat discouraging performance later by finishing only in third place at the Makita Grand Master.
"After you watch someone lose, you may expect a backlash from him," he said.
With a total of US$1,508,000 in cash prizes on offer, the tournament has become the lucrative chess field. A first-round loser will still pocket home a $6,000.
To boost his chance, Utut has hired a sparring-partner Tibor Karolyi of Hungary to help him prepare for the tournament. Karolyi, whose coaching record includes his past stint with world's No. 5 Peter Leko, is expected to arrive on May 9.
"I know him well. We were together more than two years in junior competition. I will need to build further on my chess repertoire and Karolyi can help me find some ideas on the chess board," Utut said.
Karolyi, a 43-year-old International Master (IM) title holder will work with Utut for only two weeks during the Indonesian's workout but extension is possible.
"Let's see whether I need to extend the partnership by bringing him along with me to Libya," Utut said.
Utut will be among 128 of world's best chess players in the championship, which uses a knockout format.
With him expected to sit on 83rd among the contenders, Utut, currently ranked 135 in the world, will probably face Smbat Lputian of Armenia, whose world's rank is 60th.