Cerdas moves closer to winning GM title Bled
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian chess team as a whole has yet to prove its competitiveness at the ongoing chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia, however, Jakartan Cerdas Barus has so far proven that he deserves praise for his own play.
Collecting 15.5 points as of the eighth round of the planned 13, Indonesia is still struggling in mid-table at the tournament, which features 141 teams from 139 countries.
The tournament is played as a team competition with two opposing sides fielding four players each. The participating teams are allowed to bring on two extra players as possible substitutes.
The Indonesian team, which comprises Ivan Situru, Cerdas Barus, Awam Wahono, Andi Nurjabal, Susanto Megaranto and Irwanto Sadikin, has won three, drawn one and lost four matches with another five rounds to spare.
The team is deprived of the country's number one player, Utut Adianto, who opted to compete in the Cap d'Adge chess tournament in France.
Indonesia's wins were scored against Papua New Guinea, Denmark and Vietnam. It lost to Yugoslavia, Spain, Australia and Peru. The draw came in its matchup with Iceland.
While conceding to an under-strength squad and hoping for a rally in the remaining rounds, the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) is high on Cerdas' individual prospects.
After a promising performance in an international tournament at home, Cerdas, whose current elo-rating is 2479, has come to Bled with high hopes that he would carry on further to strike another point required in his bid to attain a Grand Master (GM) title.
"Cerdas needs an additional 21 points for the title. And he is moving toward that goal," Eka Putra Wirya, Percasi's executive director, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
"He may even be able to win a gold medal as the highest scoring player on board three," he said.
Cerdas has been unbeatable thus far, booking five wins and three draws to collect 6.5 points. His latest victory came at the expense of Pacheco Marco in the eighth round on Saturday.
It was to be the only point in Indonesia's shocking 1-3 humiliation at the hands of unheralded Peru, a defeat that condemned the team to a drop in the standings.
But Eka is trying to remain optimistic. "We still have room to move up the standings. Our main aim is to avoid falling outside 44th," he said, recalling Indonesia's last position at the Turkey Olympiad two years ago.
In Bled, Russia, which is spearheaded by number one Gary Kasparov, leads the standings with 24 points. Hungary, China, Georgia and Slovakia rounded out the top five.
In the women's category, in which Indonesia did not field a team, Georgia is atop with 19 points followed by the United States, Russia, China and Romania.
Sunday was a day off. Competition resumes on Monday with Indonesia taking on Lebanon in the ninth round.