Hamdani in second place

JAKARTA (JP): NM Hamdani Rudin moved into second place behind Filipino GM Antonio Regilio at the Bali Jeff-RCA Grandmaster Chess Tournament on Thursday.

Hamdani's win came in the sixth round when he beat GM Edhi Handoko in the 19th move of the Scotland opening.

The win gives Hamdani 4.5 Victory Points (VP), just 0.5 VP behind Antonio with 5 VP.

Antonio continued his unbeaten run with a win over NM Maksum Firdaus in the 43th move of the Philidor opening.

NM Kifly Tunasly, who had lost five straight games, finally tasted victory when he beat NM Tommy Supriyanto.

Filipino IM Nelson Mariano beat FM Irwanto in the 43rd move of the King Indian opening.

IM Cerdas Barus, who lost to Edhi on Wednesday, was a suprising winner against GM Ardiansyah in the 22nd move of the Nimzo Indian opening.

Other results:

IM Salor Sitanggang vs IM Tu Hoang Thong 1/2-1/2, IM Ruben Gunawan vs IM Bobby Kurniawan 1/2-1/2, IM Nasib Ginting vs IM Danny Juswanto 1/2-1/2.

Rankings: Antonio 5.0 VP, Hamdani 4.5 VP, Edhi, Ruben and Cerdas 4.0 VP, Nasib, Danny, Bobby, Hoang Thong and Mariano 3.0 VP, Ardiansyah and Irwanto 2.5 VP, Maksum and Salor 2.0 VP, Tommy 1.5 VP, and Kifly 1.0 VP.

Sixteen players, including three foreigners, are competing in the tournament which ends July 6. They are vying for Rp 14.5 million in cash prizes. (lnt)