Indonesian child chess champ defeats King Kuzubov

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.