Cerdas and Ivan win berths to Europe

JAKARTA (JP): International Masters Cerdas Barus and Ivan Situru have won tickets for a European chess tour together with three other players.

Cerdas and Ivan won the berths after coming first and second respectively in the Bali Jeff chess tournament that concluded Monday.

Cerdas defeated IM Nasib Ginting on the 25th move after a Queen's Gambit opening. With this victory, he collected a total 8.0 Victory Points and won the Bali Jeff tournament.

Ivan only managed to draw with IM Salor Sitanggang on the fifth move after a King's Indian opening. Salor's total of 7.5 VP was good enough for the runner-up sport.

Cerdas and Ivan will accompany Grandmasters Utut Adianto and Edhi Handoko, and IM Ruben Gunawan. The European chess tour will last four months.

They are scheduled to leave on Feb. 28 for the Netherlands and to continue on to France and Spain.

Training

Prior to their European tour, the four players will undergo a training stint at Puncak early next month.

The Bali Jeff tournament began on Dec. 22 and featured 11 players.

Jeffrey Geovannie, chairman of the Bali Jeff club, said Monday that the European tour was part of Indonesia's efforts to improve the quality and the skills of local chess players.

"We hope the five players can increase their elo ratings. For Ruben, Cerdas and Ivan, we expect them to achieve their second Grandmaster Norm titles to become full grandmasters," Jeffrey said.

Final rankings: 1. Cerdas 8.0 VP, 2. Ivan 7.5 VP, 3. Salor 6.5 VP, 4. Hamdani 5.5 VP, 5. Kasmiran 5.0 VP, 6. Dede, Erwin, Irwanto 4.5 VP, 7. Sebastian, Ruby, Nasib 3.5 VP.