Utut holds Akopian in first game

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.