Cerdas moves closer to winning GM title Bled
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.