Cerdas and Ivan win berths to Europe

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.