Utut leads in Makita chess tournament

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

GM Utut Adianto pulled clear to the top of the Makita-Lakoni International Grand Master Chess Tournament after he defeated fellow Indonesian IM Danny Juswanto in the sixth round here on Saturday.

Utut collected 4 points, half a point above his rivals GM Zhu Chen and GM Antoaneta Stefanova.

The two women players agreed to a draw in their game, which stretched to 92 moves, the longest game among three matches.

In the other game, IM Hoang Thanh Trang chalked up her first win in the US$12,500 tournament after stopping local young star IM Susanto Megaranto.

Utut, who is the favorite in the tournament, capitalized on Danny's miscued assessment when the game entered the end-game phase.

Danny was a pawn behind but the 2001 Wotulo Memorial champion had an attacking initiative, with his rooks being doubled on the f-file and his bishop being well-placed in support of the attack.

However, Danny's lunge with his rook proved to be premature as Utut broke in to eliminate the rooks.

"I thought I keep putting on the pressure, but I was wrong. The loss of the rooks left me in a disadvantageous position," Danny said.

Being a pawn ahead, Utut clearly held control in the end-game. With his knight being more powerful than Danny's bishop, Utut launched a last and punishing blow through the maneuver of his queen. Danny gave up after 39 moves.

Hoang of Vietnam seemed to recover from the nerves she suffered early in the tournament when she managed to hold off Susanto's challenge and ended their French game to her victory.

Toward the end of the game, Susanto sacrificed his knight for two pawns in a bid to halt Hoang's attacking headway from the king's side. But the plot was foiled as Hoang had a good answer with her knight.

"I was not aware of the knight," Susanto, who beat Hoang in their first meeting, said.

Hoang was delighted with the result after only being able to draw the third time and lose twice in the previous five games.

"It was basically still unclear after Susanto's sacrificed knight. But I saw Susanto's points were loses and the king was weak," Hoang said.

Zhu and Stefanova played a roller-coaster game, with each taking turns being in control. In the end-game, Stefanova, who played white, looked to have cruised to victory.

But despite being two pawns up, the European champion from Bulgaria could not break away from the opponent's check on her king by the rook.

Overall point collection after six games on Saturday: 1. GM Utut Adianto 4 points; 2/3 GM Zhu Chen, GM Antoaneta Stefanova 3.5 points; 4. IM Danny Juswanto 3 points; 5. IM Hoang Thanh Trang 2.5 points; 6. IM Susanto Megaranto 1.5 points