Indonesia salvages pride at Chess Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia clawed its way back to double successes in the 11th round of the Olympics of Chess in Moscow by notching comfortable wins in both men's and women's divisions matches on Monday.

The national men's players hardly broke a sweat in dispatching Ireland 3-1, with all the four games ending before 50 moves. The impressive victory put Indonesia back in contention for 40th place after collecting 23.5 match points.

A tired-looking Grand Master Utut Adianto, however, failed to regain his best form when he was forced to a draw with Ireland's Daly in the first board. Indonesia was assured of a victory after GM Edhi Handoko and Salor Sitanggang scored two full points. Cerdas Barus sealed the match with a draw.

Utut and his teammates now lie at 48th place and desperately need another trouncing over Chili in the 12th round to live up their expectations of finishing among the top 40.

The Russia II team keeps ahead with 28 MP, followed by Russia I, the Netherlands, England, Ukraine and Bosnia with the same points.

In the women's category, a trio of Upi Dharmayana Tamin, Lindri Yuni and Lisa Lumongdong lost only half a point during their match against Mongolia. Despite the 2.5-0.5 win, the Indonesian trio remain at the 20th place with eight points adrift behind leader Georgia which has collected 26.5 MP.

"This is a relief since we have been suffering from extreme exhaustion after playing 11 games non-stop," said national team manager Djamil Djamal.

Indonesian men's players fell to an upset 1.5-2.5 loss to Brazil as their women's compatriots gave up 0.5-2.5 to European strong chess powerhouse Estonia in the 10th round.

"Our players will open up their chances of improving their rankings if they manage to stay cool in the last three games," Djamil added.

The national women's team will face a tough hurdle in the 12th round as it meets Germany.

The chess tournament will wind up on Thursday. The national squad is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Monday. (amd)