Irene poised for medal at chess Olympiad<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's chess squad may be struggling at the chess
\nOlympiad in Calvia, Spain, but Irene Kharisma is poised to win a
\nconsolation medal after chalking up another win on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The 12-year-old rising star defeated Katerina Jonoska in
\nIndonesia's match with Macedonia in the 11th round of the women's
\nevent at the world chess team competition.<\/p>\n
Irene's victory, however, was not enough to lead the team past
\nMacedonia, as Norasa Verdiana and Evi Lindiawati fell to Gabriela
\nKoskoska and Vesna Sekulovska, respectively.<\/p>\n
The defeat put the Indonesian side in 60th place out of 87
\nteams with 15.5 points. The competition, which also features a
\nmen's event, will include 14 rounds.<\/p>\n
However, the Indonesian team might be able to expect some
\nconsolation with Irene in second place in the race to be the best
\nperformer on board three.<\/p>\n
Irene is unbeaten and has collected nine points out of a total
\npossible of 11. She has won seven games and drawn four.<\/p>\n
Her sparkling play has also earned Irene a FIDE Master title.<\/p>\n
\"Irene has surpassed the minimum point percentage of 60
\npercent, as required by world's chess governing body FIDE,\" chess
\nobserver Kristianus Liem told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Irene was non-fielded in Indonesia's match against Venezuela,
\nto give the 12-year-old a rest and also to keep her from dropping
\nany points.<\/p>\n
\"That is a smart strategy. The team is definitely going
\nnowhere, so they want to preserve Irene's personal chance,\"
\nKristianus said.<\/p>\n
In the men's event, which features 129 teams, young Indonesian
\nplayers Susanto Megaranto and Tirta Chandra managed to hold on
\nfor draws against their higher-rated opponents, though the team
\nstill lost 3-1 to England.<\/p>\n
Susanto, who holds a rating of 2439, forced England ace
\nMichael Adams (2740), who is one of the top 10 players in the
\nworld, to share the points, while Tirta (2286) drew with Jonathan
\nSpeelman (2555).<\/p>\n
On the other two boards, however, Indonesia suffered losses,
\nwith Dede Liu (2397) losing to Nigel Short (2687) and Taufik
\nHalay to Peter Wells (2504).<\/p>",
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