Andrean ties with Nguyen in 3rd round

JAKARTA (JP): Vietnamese junior chess player Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son held his lead over Indonesian Andrean Susilodinata after the two agreed to a draw on the 69th move on the third day of the junior dual meet here on Tuesday.

Nguyen -- the 2001 Under-12 Asian champion and the 2000 Under- 10 World and ASEAN champion -- now has 1.5 Match Points (MPs) to Andrean's 0.5 MPs.

The rapid chess session the two played last Saturday will be taken into account if the two players are tied at the conclusion of the dual meet on Thursday.

What impressed the chess fans who gathered at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel for the match was not the fact that Andrean, who finished seventh in the Under-10 World Championships last year, was able to earn a draw from the Asian champion, but that the Vietnamese player offered the draw when Andrean only had 49 seconds left on his time clock.

Andrean would have lost when the time on his clock expired, unless he was somehow able to pull out a win before his time ran out.

Nguyen had 11 minutes on his time clock when he offered the draw to Andrean.

Nguyen's decision amazed Andrean's instructor and Indonesian Grand Master Utut Adianto.

"Nguyen proved his sportsmanship as a world champion. It seems that he does not want to win because his opponent's time has expired. If Nguyen insisted on continuing, Andrean would have lost," he said after five-hour match.

He also told Andrean to ask for a draw whenever he found himself short of time.

"You have played very well today. Next time you should ask him for a draw if your time is short," he told Andrean.

Using the Sicilian defense, Andrean was able to match Nguyen, who was playing the white pieces. Until the 32nd move, Andrean found himself in a favorable position, with one more pawn than Nguyen.

But on the 51st move, Andrean made an error by moving his king e5-f4. Andrean's move frustrated the spectators, most of whom were chess players.

"It seems that Andrean was certain he could reach the promotion a few steps ahead of Nguyen. But the move thwarted his hopes," said Sebastian Simanjuntak, a chess player and observer who watched the game.

Nguyen was set for a promotion in d5 but in the 55th move, he flanked his rook from d6 to a6, which opened some possibilities for Andrean to win the match. Andrean responded by moving his rook e2 to e5.

"Nguyen should have moved his rook from d6 to d7. But both players had nearly reached the end of the match, so the moves were no longer easy to understand," Utut remarked.

In the 58th move, Nguyen got a promotion for his queen, which helped him secure his king from Andrean's attack. Nguyen's king escaped seven checks, Andrean's two. (ivy)