Utut's dreams end with third defeat

Utut's dreams end with third defeat

JAKARTA (JP): Grand Master Utut Adianto yesterday saw a triple loss in his fifth round duel against chess wunderkind Nigel Short of England at the 34th move.

It was Utut's quickest decision to resign after holding Short twice in a row in the third and fourth rounds. Yesterday's win gave Short a commanding 4-1 lead, with one game remaining.

Short will maintain his elo rating and assure himself of the winner's prize money of US$10,000. Utut will receive half that amount, but has to accept the end of his dream of raising his elo rating of 2,610. Utut will see his rating drop by 10 following the big loss.

To keep his elo rating intact, Utut had to collect a total of 2.5 points in the six-round duel which will end today.

Thus, even if world number 50 Utut wins today -- which is quite unlikely, his total score will not exceed 2, half a point shy of the compulsory break-even point.

World number 14 Short not only took the full advantage of playing white yesterday, he sped along to ensure his winning position, 10 steps after his favorite e4 move was countered with a Caro-Kann defense by Utut.

Short said he felt sure he would win the game after the 14th move, when he moved his e3 bishop to d4.

That little, diagonal move destroyed Utut's defense. "After the 14th move, Short gained vast mobility on almost all fronts," said Djamil Djamal, the international judge who refereed the game.

Utut, on the other hand, acted as if he were walking in mud.

Short pressed his Indonesian rival hard. At the 34th move, Short knew it was the time to end the game. He threw Utut the gauntlet by placing his queen at e6 to confront Utut with a dilemma.

"If Utut captured the queen, he would surely lose either his rook or his only bishop. But if Utut did not remove the queen, his queen would be victimized and this would only make his position even worse. Whatever option he chose, defeat was inevitable," Djamil said of the three-and-a-half hour game. (arf)