Indonesian Cerdas takes gold in Bled: report<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
After having rested for two games, Cerdas Barus came out for
\napparently a double victory in Indonesia's tie against Wales in
\nthe penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia, on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Not only did Indonesia beat Wales 3-0, but Cerdas was also
\nassured of a gold medal as the best scoring player on board
\nthree, according to team official Kristianus Liem on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Cerdas contributed one of three points Indonesia chalked up.
\nThe other team winners included Susanto Megaranto and Irwanto
\nSadikin. The only loss was suffered by Ivan Situru.<\/p>\n
"Cerdas, who has scored a Grand Master (GM) norm three times,
\nhas collected 8.5 points from ten rounds," Kristianus said in a
\nrelease.<\/p>\n
With the tournament having one round to spare, Cerdas has
\nremained unbeaten, winning seven times and drawing three times.<\/p>\n
His last win came at the expense of Richard Dineley of Wales.
\nThe two players were involved in 42 moves of the Benko Gambit
\ngame before Cerdas forced his opponent to give up.<\/p>\n
Irwanto managed to create a free pawn on the d-file, which
\nturned to be the deciding armor in his Benoni 42-move game win
\nover Francis Reyner.<\/p>\n
Susanto Megaranto opted for a French Defense in his game
\nagainst Richard Jones. The game lasted for 30 moves before
\nSusanto sealed it for his win.<\/p>\n
Ivan lost to Leighton Williams, which was his seventh defeat
\nduring his Bled performance.<\/p>\n
The win earned Indonesia an overall 27 points and placed it in
\n57th position on the provisional standings.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, top two teams Russia and Hungary had to be content
\nwith a 2-2 draw against Israel and Armenia respectively.<\/p>\n
The results did not change the standings with Russia leading
\nHungary by two points.<\/p>\n
China stunned Croatia 3-1 to move back to fourth behind
\nGeorgia.<\/p>\n
China has also proven a strong force in the women's division,
\ntaking over at the top with 27 points. Following behind are
\nRussia, Georgia, Poland and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
After an off-day on Saturday, the tournament, which features
\n141 teams from 139 countries, resumes to play the final round of
\nthe 14-round competition on Sunday with Indonesia being paired
\nagainst Turkmenistan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-cerdas-takes-gold-in-bled-report-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}