China assured of winning World Youth Chess Olympiad
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
At the end of the penultimate round of the World Youth Chess Olympiad at the MidValley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, China had established an unassailable lead that assured it of winning the event.
Although the final round has yet to played, China, with 28 points, cannot be caught at the top of the table. India, its closest competition, is in second place with a distant 23.5 points.
China booked another two wins on Monday, beating Vietnam 2.5- 1.5 in the eighth round of the event and Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5 in the ninth round. India drew its two matches with Uzbekistan and Iran on Monday.
Indonesia and Ukraine ended the day tied in third place on 23 points, followed by Iran with 22 points. Indonesia and Ukraine played each other in the eighth round, with Ukraine winning 2.5- 1.5.
Susanto Megaranto and Surya Wahyudi were the losing players for Indonesia. Taufik Halay contributed half a point by drawing with Kateryna Lahno, while Tirta Chandra Purnama was the only member of the team to register a win.
The only consolation for the team was that Tirta's win came at the expense of Sergey Karjakin, who is the youngest player to ever attain the title of grand master.
Indonesia made amends for its poor performance against Ukraine by edging out Uzbekistan 2.5-1.5 in the ninth round. The victory was hard fought, with most of the matches undecided until the final moment.
Surya capitalized on a blunder by Hurshid Turdaliyew to launch a decisive strike that forced the Uzbek's surrender after only 20 moves.
"Maybe he was nervous against me," Surya, the youngest player on the team, said after the match. "He had options but he appeared to have selected the wrong one."
Susanto extended Indonesia's lead to two points, only to see it shrink back to one point when Tirta failed to maintain his winning form.
Susanto bounced back from his defeat to Alexander Areschenko in the first match of the day by beating Anton Filipow, the 2001 Asian junior champion.
Susanto opted to exchange his rook for a bishop and a pawn to find a way past his opponent's defense. The tactic paid off, and Susanto pushed his men forward in a successful endgame that gave him total control of the board with his superior pawn strength.
Filipow, apparently shocked by the defeat, broke into tears after the match. He remained seated for several minutes before exiting the arena.
Taufik sealed Indonesia's victory by holding Abduahad Kuchkarow to a draw in a lengthy match that was overshadowed by Taufik's apparent lack of understanding of the rules.
The match lasted 94 moves. However, the draw could have been sealed about 20 moves earlier had Taufik been aware that a player can claim a draw if it appears that the buildup of the pieces and pawns repeatedly takes the same position at least three times.
"I saw it happen seven times. He should have claimed a draw," team manager GM Utut Adianto said.
With China already securing the championship, the only drama remaining is who will finish in second.
Indonesia faces an uphill battle, having to play Iran in the final round. India will take on Australia A, while Ukraine has what appears to be an easy match against Malaysia B.
Rumania and Uzbekistan, tied at 21.5 points, still have the chance to move up in the standings, but they will have to face each other in the final round.