IM Ruben claims GM title, still needs to lift elo rating

JAKARTA (JP): IM Ruben Gunawan of Jakarta claimed the Grandmaster title in the final round of the Bali Jeff-RCA Grandmaster Chess Tournament on Sunday.

Ruben claimed the GM title after drawing with IM Cerdas Barus and scoring 11.5 Victory Points (VP), the minimum score for Ruben to get the GM title.

But Ruben is not yet entitled yet to put the GM title in front of his name because his elo rating is still below 2500.

Before the final round of the tournament Sunday, Ruben's elo rating was 2460. The win lifted it to 2490.

"I still need another 10 points for the GM title to be recognized. I am certain that I will get the extra points at the Gunadarma tournament from July 15 to July 23," Ruben said.

Ruben obtained the GM Norm title at the Bank BNI tournament last year.

Cerdas also scored 11.5 VP and has achieved the GM Norm title. For Cerdas to get the GM title, he has to play for another GM Norm title.

Cerdas's draw with Ruben took his elo rating to 2475.

Filipino GM Rogelio Antonio also collected 11.5 VP. In the last match Sunday, Antonio drew with GM Edhi Handoko.

The organizer named Ruben, Cerdas and Antonio as the tournament's winners.

They each received Rp 3 million of the Rp 24.5 million purse.

Also successful was West Java's NM Hamdani Rudin who took the IM Norm after collecting 9.0 VP.

Hamdani earlier scored 8.5 VP, but drew his final match with IM Bobby Kurniawan.

The Indonesian Chess Association's deputy chairman, Cholid Ghozali, officially closed the tournament.

Thirteen players, 10 locals and three foreigners, took part in the 16-day tournament which began June 21.

Final results:

IM Danny Juswanto vs IM Salor Sitanggang 1/2-1/2, IM Mariano Nelson (Philippines) vs NM Firdaus Maksum 0-1, IM Tu Hoang Thong (Vietnam) vs NM Kifly Tunasli 1-0, FM Irwanto vs GM Ardiansyah 1/2-1/2, and IM Nasib Ginting vs NM Tommy Supriyanto 1/2-1/2.

Final rankings: Antonio, Ruben and Cerdas 11.5 VP, Danny 9.5 VP, Edhi, Hoang Thong and Hamdani 9.0 VP, Ardiansyah and Mariano 8.0 VP, Bobby 7.0 VP, Salor 6.5 VP, Nasib 6.0 VP, Irwanto 5.0 VP, Firdaus 4.0 VP, Tommy 3.0 VP and Kifly 1.5 VP.

National team

The Bali Jeff-RCA tournament was also to select 10 players for the national team. The 10 local players were named in the national team.

The 10 players are Ruben, Cerdas, Danny, Edhi, Hamdani, Ardiansyah, Bobby, Salor, Nasib and Irwanto.

They will each receive monthly honorariums of between Rp 200,000 and Rp 300,000 depending on their rank. (lnt)