Utut holds Akopian in first game

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto, the only Indonesian representative in the world chess championships now underway in Tripoli, Libya, had to be content with a draw with GM Vladimir Akopian in the first game of the second round on Monday.

Playing with black pieces, Utut pressed ahead with his attacking game.

In the game, which could be viewed live on the internet, Utut who gained his championship berth through the Dubai qualifying tournament, won a pawn on the 29th move.

Although he had to give away his own in the later moves, Utut looked to have built a promising position with his pawn having a cleared passage in the a-file.

However, Akopian, the 1999 championship runner-up from Armenia, defended tenaciously and a draw was agreed after 39 moves.

On the other boards, favorites GM Michael Adams and GM Vassily Ivanchuk were surprisingly held to draws by Karen Asrian and Pentala Harikrishna, who have lower ratings than the former two.

Meanwhile, Vaselin Topalov, who has been tagged as the top seed in the absence of a number of the world elite players, scored a 1-0 win over Aleksander Delchev. Nigel Short and Alexander Grischuk also beat their respective opponents.

The second games are to be played on Tuesday to decide which of the remaining 64 contenders will qualify for the next stage.