Dao wins Japfa chess match in sudden death

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It came down to the wire, but in the end Vietnamese Dao Thien Hai was too experienced for teenage GM Susanto Megaranto in their best-of-six matchup.

Trailing by a game going into Saturday's final match, the Indonesian fought back to even the score 3-3 in the Rp 80 million Japfa Chess Festival.

They then split two five-minute blitz games before Dao, who boasts an elo-rating of 2609 compared to Susanto's 2489, overwhelmed his 17-year-old opponent in the sudden death for a 5- 4 victory.

In the sudden death odds game, white is given six minutes of thinking time against black's five. In the event of a draw, black is declared the winner.

Dao, playing black, stayed calm under pressure to seal victory, garnering applause from spectators packed into the office of the State Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs.

Despite coming off second best overall, Susanto deserved credit for drawing even in the main, or classical game.

"Susanto cleverly capitalized on Dao's overly exposed position," Susanto's mentor, GM Utut Adianto, said. "Overall, Susanto played well in the matchup. I would have loved him to win. The only thing missing was that he let it slip after leading 2-0 early on.

"This is his first matchup. He might still be lacking in concentration skills."

Susanto, after losing three consecutive games, had started out focused on Saturday, and took a winning position after 30 moves, with Dao's king exposed to attack and his knight stranded on his queen's side.

With only classical games counting toward a player's rating, the draw was a setback for Dao. His rating is expected to drop by eight points while Susanto's will increase by eight, according to tournament director Eka Putra Wirya.

"A draw isn't good for me," Dao, 27, acknowledged, adding that he enjoyed his first visit here.

The players shared the prize money of US$2,250.

Meanwhile, FM Hamdani Rudin emerged the winner in the Open category. He was tied with five players on 7.5 points but he won on the "Progressive Score" rule.

Also based on that rule, Taufik Halay finished in second followed by Jamaludin, Ruben Gunawan, Ardiansyah and Fikhrul Saefudin.

Already crowned champion in the women's category, Irene Kharisma consolidated her top position with a win over Stefani Dian. She chalked up a perfect nine points. Lisa Lumongdong finished runner-up, two points behind, followed by Evie Lindiawati on 5.5 points.