Indonesian child chess champ defeats King Kuzubov

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's own Andrean Susilodinata is continuing his winning streak at the World Youth Chess Championships in Greece with his latest defeat of Yuriy Kuzubov of the Ukraine in the eighth round on Thursday.

Andrean, who is 11 years old and competing in the under 12 category, was the second player at the tournament to have beaten Kuzubov, who had been hailed the "King of 12" following his unbeatable run in the previous six rounds.

"On a tournament bulletin, Kuzubov was said to be the lone king of 12 because he played six times and won all. It's a shocker that Andrean could beat him," Susilodinata Halim, Andrean's father and manager, told The Jakarta Post by phone on Friday.

Susilodinata said that the game lasted only one and half hours in 38 moves before Andrean, who devised a Slav defensive, came out on top. "It was the quickest game to finish among the top boards," Susilodinata said.

"Kuzubov gave up because he saw he could not save the game," he said.

Andrean has collected 6.5 points after six wins, one draw and one loss, and is tied in the second and fourth positions with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Vietnamese Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, with whom Andrean had had a bad experience in a dual chess meet in Jakarta last year, topped the standings with seven points. He beat David Howell in the eighth round.

While the game against Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round might run until late on Friday, chess observers back at home are discussing Andrean's daunting prospects ahead of him should he meet Nguyen in the next stages.

"The two players have equally good opening repertoires. Their skills in the middle game and end game are also generally on par. But Nguyen holds the upper hand in mental toughness," Kristianus Liem, a chess columnist, said here.

"Nguyen can prove his determination when it comes to critical moments in the game while Andrean can't control his nerves at times," said Kristianus, who is the director of the Utut Adianto Chess School, where Andrean honed his chess skills.

Kristianus recalled the pair's match in Jakarta in which the Vietnamese child wonder crushed Andrean by 3.5-0.5 points.

"It will come down to the opening stage. If Andrean manages to take the initiative, the chances to win will be good for him. But if he falls into a complicated buildup in which he is forced to spend a lot of time to work it out, he may find things turning dangerous," he said.

Andrean is the sole Indonesian competitor at the tournament, which features about 900 players from 82 countries who are divided into five categories in the boys and girls events.