Indonesia salvages pride at Chess Olympics

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)