Indonesian kids all victors in Spain
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Three Indonesian teenage chess players made amends for their losses overnight with wins on Sunday in the seventh round of the World Youth Chess Championship in Oropesa del Mar, Spain.
Susanto Megaranto has proven that he is one to be reckoned with in the championship campaign after upsetting 1999 champion in the U-12 category FIDE Master (FM) Wang Yue of China in the U- 14 competition.
The win catapulted Susanto back to third place with 5.5 points. Above him with 6 points were co-leaders Viktor Erdos of Hungary and FM Ante Brkic of Croatia.
Andrean Susilodinata, who is competing in the U-12 category, edged out FM Marlon Lopez Velez of Ecuador, while Boy Reinhard, in the U-10 category, stopped David Martinez Sandoval of Chile.
While Boy is still struggling with an overall 3.5 points, Andrean, who finished seventh in the U-10 last year, has now improved his ranking to ninth with 5 points.
Based on past international achievements and international rankings, Susanto's defeat of Wang came as a surprise. The Indonesian has an elo rating of 2234, compared to the Chinese's 2446.
Wang, who won the bronze medal in the same category last year, has a better international record than Susanto. The Chinese last obtained an IM (International Master) title norm at the Asian Championship in Calcutta in August.
The Wang-Susanto game was played in a Slav and lasted over 28 moves in around three hours.
Wang tried to stray from his routine line but to no avail. In fact, it was Susanto who had built a better position after 14 moves.
Susanto maintained the pressure and on move 24 he jumped one pawn ahead with the position remaining to swing in his favor.
"Wang Yue was beginning to be irritated. A friend of his in the Chinese team offered assistance by giving him a pain- relieving oil but it did not help," Kristianus Liem, a team official, said in a release here on Monday.
After the following four moves Wang abandon the game after having his Bishop entrapped.