Indonesian teen Andrean back to championship title hunt in Spain

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian team at the World Youth Chess Championship in Oropesa del Mar, Spain, was delighted by the late resurgence of Andrean Susilodinata, whose ninth-round win on Tuesday vaulted him to joint second.

Andrean, who had stood outside the top 10 in the early stages, has now significantly improved his U-12 category position after beating FM (FIDE Master) Andre Diamant of Brazil.

The 11-year-old Indonesian defeated Diamant in 45 moves, using a Slav defense in the match, and is now only half a point away from leader FM Dmitri Andreikine of Russia.

Andrean now has 7 points from nine rounds and is tied with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Krisztian Szabo of Hungary and FM Sergey Karyakin of the Ukraine.

Andrean is bracing for a make-or-break match when he faces Andreikine in the 10th and penultimate round on Thursday -- a showdown that may decide the Indonesian's championship fate.

Eka Putra Wirya, an Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) executive, expressed confidence about his young prodigy taking the yellow jersey before entering the final round.

"This should be a good opportunity for Andrean to stop Andreikine and take over the lead," he said as quoted by Kristianus Liem, a team official.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's pre-tournament best bet Susanto Megaranto could only draw with Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, a disappointing result that team officials put down to the player's poor stamina.

Coach Utut Adianto has become somewhat pessimistic about Susanto's chances. The 13-year-old had been the team's hot contender but has since tumbled down the leaderboard.

"His stamina is very poor. This is not encouraging because at the top level he is up against stronger opponents, and he can't expect a game to be less than three hours," Utut said.

Susanto has now amassed 6.5 points, 1.5 behind leader Viktor Erdos of Hungary. Although there are two rounds to play, it appears unlikely that the Indonesian can reduce the gap.

A draw was also all that Boy Reinhard could manage in his U-10 match against Mustafa Yilmaz of Turkey in 33 moves in a Philidor tussle. Boy is still struggling well back of the leaders with just 4 points.

Andrean looked confident during his game with Diamant, owing to a thorough preparation by Utut overnight.

Starting from the 13th move Andrean jumped in control after he took one of his opponent's pawns.

"He followed with another (pawn) in the 21st, after which a win was then only a matter of time," Kristianus said.

The Brazilian, who went a Bishop and pawn down, gave up after 45 moves, being aware that his King would have been checkmated within a single move.

Players have a day-off Wednesday, and will resume competition on Thursday with the final round on Friday.

FM Andre Diamant (Bra)-Andrean Susilodinata (Ina)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 Be7 11.Qe2 Ndb4 12.Be4 f5 13.Bb1 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.a3 Nc6 16.Ba2 Kh8 17.Be3 Qf6 18.f4 Bd7 19.Rad1 Rad8 20.Rfe1 Bxa3 21.bxa3 Qxc3 22.Rd3 Qf6 23.Red1 Bc8 24.Bc5 Rxd3 25.Rxd3 Re8 26.Bd5 e5 27.Re3 e4 28.Bxc6 Qxc6 29.Bxa7 Rd8 30.Qf2 Qc1+ 31.Re1 Qxa3 32.Bb6 Rd3 33.h3 h6 34.Qc2 Be6 35.Re2 Qd6 36.Be3 b5 37.Qc5 Rd1+ 38.Kf2 Qd8 39.g3 Bc4 40.Re1 Rxe1 41.Kxe1 Qd3 42.Qf8+ Kh7 43.Qxf5+ g6 44.Qg4 Qxe3+ 45.Kd1 0-1