Utut returns to Biel with modest goals

Utut returns to Biel with modest goals

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former champion Utut Adianto will return to the Biel Master chess
tournament with a modest target of finishing in the top ten.

Although the Biel Master is one of the few tournaments where
the Indonesian hopes to relive past glories, Utut said it would
be good if he could reach the top ten considering his lack of
practice recently.

"To finish in the top ten would be a good run for me," the
Indonesian's number one grandmaster said when The Jakarta Post
asked about his realistic aspiration this time around.

The tournament will use both rapid and conventional chess
games, in between, Utut is scheduled to play a simultaneous match
against a line-up of local chess veterans.

The rapid games will run for two days from July 20 to July 21
followed by the conventional games until Aug. 2.

Utut managed to win the tournament, then a 15-tier event, in
1995. The following editions saw him finish not lower than the
top three until 1998.

He said he skipped the tournament the following years when the
organizers lowered the prize money.

"On calculation, I would have pocketed very little money," he
said.

Utut instead turned elsewhere.

His return to Biel signaled about his change in responding to
chess invitations. "Even if it (the fee) were only enough to buy
cigarettes, I would have jumped at the invitation," he said.

Utut, now 37 years old, once reached a career high elo-rating
of 2620, but rare appearances and a string of poor performances
have seen that drop to 2572. His most recent poor showing was in
India in April, where he lost several points at the end of the
tournament.

Utut put his lackluster performance down to a lack of time due
to his work with the national chess federation (Percasi) as chief
in charge of junior scouting.

"I wish I had not been installed as a board member, because
now I have a lot of time commitments," he said, adding that he
planned to retire from the federation in 2003 to focus on his
play.

"I want to try to continue playing until 2005," he said.