Indonesian chess players draw against Latvia

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian men scored a 2-2 draw with Latvia while the women drew 1.5-1.5 with Finland at the 34th Chess Olympics in Istanbul on Tuesday.

For the men's side, the result was a repeat of Wednesday's tie with Mexico.

Against Latvia, Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto defeated N. Miezis in the 49th move.

Meanwhile, GM Cerdas Barus and V. Meijers agreed to a draw after the 47th move.

FIDE Master (MF) Rudin Hamdani conceded the match to A. Neiksans, seeing no other options after the 39th move.

"It was really a hard match. All I could do was surrender as there was no other choice," Rudin said after the match.

Meanwhile, GM Edi Handoko was only able to secure a tie with J. Klovans in the longest match between Indonesia and Latvia.

The Indonesian men have now collected a total of 9.5 VPs. Germany is in the lead with 13.5 VPs, followed by Israel with 12.5 VPs.

Utut and the rest of the team will face off across the boards with Canada on Wednesday.

Commenting on the Tuesday's result, team manager Jeffrie Geovannie said it was the best the players could achieve.

"Actually, Indonesia and Latvia are similar in strength although we were higher seeded in the event," he said.

Meanwhile, Tuesday's draw was an improvement for the Indonesian women, who lost to Slovakia on Monday.

Upi D. Tamim drew with T. Rantanen after the 22nd move.

Ai Zakiah's king was captured by H. Puuska in the 36th move.

Indonesia forced a tie when Yenni Riayananingrum defeated A. Ristoja after the 33rd move.

The Indonesian women are now in 49-58 place after collecting 5.5 VPs. Georgia leads the pack with 10 VPs, followed by China, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia, all with 9.5 VPs.

The Indonesian women will meet Malaysia on Wednesday. (nvn)