The Jakarta Post
April 16, 2004
Utut dreams of top four in Tripoli
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia’s No. 1 chess grand master Utut Adianto will be heading to the
world chess championship with high hopes for a place in the semifinals.
“I have a lot of confidence (that I’ll do well in) this tournament.
Hopefully, I can reach the semifinals,” Utut told The Jakarta Post here.
The world chess championship will run from June 18 to July 13. The majority
of the matches will be played in Tripoli, Libya, while others will be in
Valetta, Malta.
Utut qualified for the tournament at the Asian Championship in Dubai last
year.
It is the fourth time that Utut has qualified since 1997. Although he was
unable to get past the second round in his previous appearances, Utut says
he thinks he can do it this time.
“For me, it’s now or never. Surely, I still have some good weapons,” he
said.
Utut gave the Indonesian chess team its only gold medal at the recent
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in December but put in a somewhat discouraging
performance later by finishing only in third place at the Makita Grand
Master tourney.
“After you watch someone lose, you may expect a backlash from him,” he said.
With a total of US$1,508,000 in cash prizes on offer, the tournament has
drawn world’s best players. A first-round loser will still pocket $6,000.
To boost his chances, Utut has hired a foreign coach, Tibor Karolyi of
Hungary, to help him prepare for the tournament. Karolyi, whose coaching
record includes a past stint with world No. 5 Peter Leko, is expected to
arrive here on May 9.
“I know him well. We were together more than two years in a junior
competition. I will need to build further on my chess repertoire and Karolyi
can help me find some ideas on the chess board,” Utut said.
Karolyi, a 43-year-old International Master (IM) title holder will work with
Utut for only two weeks but an extension is possible.
“We’ll see whether I need to extend the partnership by bringing him along
with me to Libya,” Utut said.
Utut will be among 128 of world’s best chess players in the championship,
which uses a knockout format.
With him expected to be the 83rd seed among the contenders, Utut, currently
ranked 135 in the world, will probably face Smbat Lputian of Armenia, whose
world ranking is 60th.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
