Zaw beats Yoseph in Wotulo Memorial opener

JAKARTA (JP): Grand Master (GM) Zaw Win Lay of Myanmar, whose elo rating is 2537, put on a skillful display of chess in defeating Indonesian FIDE Master (MF) Yoseph R. Majella (2321) on the opening day of the Wotulo Memorial International Grand Master Chess Tournament here.

Zaw employed the French defense to great effect, capturing Yoseph's king in the 34th move.

The match was even until the 14th move when Yoseph, a student at Gunadarma University, which is organizing the tournament, exchanged his rook for a knight at f3.

He then made two ill-advised moves, with his king capturing Zaw's knight at f3.

"Yoseph should move his king to e5 and the match would have developed into a tie," Zaw said.

In other matches, GM Darryl Johansen of Australia (2520) defeated GM Stefan Djuric of Yugoslavia (2465) in the 55th move using the Spanish defense.

MF Cecep Kosasih of Indonesia (2420) forced a draw with compatriot MF Awam Wahono (2401) in the 34th move. Cecep employed the Petroff defense.

The second round of the tournament will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Category IX tournament has attracted seven foreign GMs to honor the late International Master (MI) Max Arie Wotulo. The tournament is being held at the Clarion Golden Hotel on Jl. Gunung Sahari in Central Jakarta, and will continue until April 3.

Others taking part in the tournament are GM Krunoslav Hulak of Croatia (2546), GM Normunds Miezis of Latvia (2601), GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj of Mongolia (2441) and GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India (2601).

Indonesians competing in the event are International Master (MI) Danny Juswanto (2487), MI Dede Liu (2378), MF Sugeng Prayitno (2391) and MF Eko Supriyono (2252).

Wotulo, who was also a lecturer at Gunadarma University, represented Indonesia at five Chess Olympics between 1960 and 1978. He was also Indonesia's first International Referee.

His widow, Biki Petrovic, and daughter, Mona Wotulo, attended the opening ceremony of the tournament on Friday. Petrovic moved the first chess piece to symbolically start the tournament. (nvn)