Utut leads in Makita chess tourney

Utut leads in Makita chess tourney

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