Andrean stumbles at the last turn
Musthofid The Jakarta Post Jakarta
When a draw on Friday would have seen him become the world champion, Andrean Susilodinata slipped up at the last turn in his campaign at the now concluded World Youth Chess Championship in Oropesa del Mar, Spain.
The 11-year-old Indonesian, who competed in the U-12 category at the 11-round tournament, suffered an unfortunate loss to FM (FIDE Master) Sergei Karyakin of the Ukraine.
Karyakin, seeded second at the tournament, became the eventual champion with an overall total of 8.5 points. Andrean, equal with another seven players half a point behind Karyakin, was declared sixth based on the progressive score rule.
Susanto Megaranto finished fifth in the U-14 age group after collecting another half a point from his final game against IM (International Master) Hikaru Nakamura of the United States.
Victor Erdos of Hungary, Nakamura, Laszlo Gonda of Hungary and Rodaslow Wojtaszek of Poland were the top four in the final U-14 standings.
The consolation for the players and the team was that, although Andrean and Susanto fell short of bringing home the trophies, their final positions were an improvement on last year's run.
Andrean, then playing in the U-10 category, finished in seventh while Susanto, who at the time joined the U-12 category, ended up out of the top ten places.
Meanwhile, Boy Reinhard, with only 4 points from 11 rounds, was doomed to finish low down the leader board. The Indonesian U- 10 contender was defeated by Philip Podobedov of Belarus on Friday.
The Indonesian team seemed to rue the title chance slipping through Andrean's fingers.
At the opening and middle stages of the game, Andrean was already asserting his dominance.
Upon learning that the other four pairings behind him ended in draws, which meant that he would only need a draw to become the world champion, Andrean seemed to be shaken.
"He seemed to endure a blackout phase. His moves became powerless. He wasted too much tempo, which resulted in the game turning around. Andre then found himself a pawn down in move 37," team official Kristianus Liem said from Spain.
The game was extended to 105 moves before Andrean resigned. The Indonesian could have forced a draw during the game but he missed many chances, which coach Utut Adianto said tallied seven.
"Andrean squandered at least seven chances of forcing a draw. Today his play turned one hundred and eighty percent around from yesterday," Utut said, recalling his protege's upset defeat of Dmitri Andreikine in the penultimate round.
"He seemed to be desperately struggling to contain his emotions becoming aware that he simply needed a draw to become the world champion," Utut said.