Indonesia draws with England

Indonesia draws with England

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian mens chess team yesterday managed
to draw 2-2 with the English team in the fourth round of the 31th
Chess Olympiad in Moscow.

This was exactly the result anticipated by the Indonesian
Chess Association (Percasi) to face the strong English team,
which is seeded fourth.

"We have instructed our players to try scoring a victory only
if the likelihood is really great," said Djamil Djamal, Percasi's
secretary general in Moscow. He added that he was pleased to
learn that Indonesia was seeded 42nd.

Grand Master Utut Adianto, presently Indonesia's number one,
tied with Grand Master Nigel Short at the 20th move with the
Caro-Kahn opening.

However, Grand Master Eddy Handoko then fell to Grand Master
Jonathan Speelman at the 44th move, before International Master
Jonathan Situru made amends by beating Grand Master John Nunn at
the 36th move.

In the deciding match, International Master Cerdas Barus drew
with Grand Master Julian Hogdson at the 35th move, thus rendering
a draw.

From the women's team, Indonesia had to play without
International Master Lisa Lumondong, who had to return home due
to the sudden death of her father on Sunday.

This forced Indonesia to field International Master Lindri
Juni Widjajanti, who served as a reserve.

However, Indonesia yesterday beat Venezuella 2-1 after Upi
Darmayana Tamin and Maria R. Lucia nailed victories over De Pool
and Beanko respectively, though Lindry fell to Hernandes.

"Lindry's failure to strike victory was beyond our
anticipation," said Djamil Djamal, "We thought we could beat
Venezuella 3-0."

Today, Indonesian men's team will lock horns with Romania,
while the women's team will play Polandia.

Previously, Indonesia's mens team beat Turkey 2.5-1.5 in the
third round after falling 1-3 to Bulgaria in the second round and
smashing Haiti 4-0 in the first round, which began on Dec. 1.

As for the women's team, Indonesia crushed Dominica 3-0 in the
first round, drew with England 1.5-1.5 in the second round but
lost to Bulgaria 1.5-2.5 in the third round. (arf)