Indonesian young chess team shines in Merdeka Cup tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's future chess stars are proving they can match the region's best talent at the Merdeka Cup international tournament in Kuala Lumpur now underway.

Comprising players aged between 11 and 14, the national team defied opposition from challengers who are four years or more their senior to collect 11 victory points for the sixth place after four rounds on Saturday.

In the fourth round, the so-called Dream Team beat Caissa Chess Enterprise of Singapore 3-1, dropping only one game after Tirta Candra lost to Lim Lai Kun in the 43rd move in the third board.

Defying the disadvantage of playing black, Susanto Megaranto opened up the scoring for Indonesia after dominating Ang Boon Lim over 27 moves using the Trompovsky attack. It was the fourth win for the 13-year-old player, who finished third in the world under-12 group championship last year.

Second-board player Taufik Halay widened the margin with a win over Kek Wei Chuan after 40 moves in the second-board game played on the King Indian defense.

Ferry Ferdiansyah also maintained his unbeaten record, beating Michael Siong in the 46th move, also on the King Indian defense. Ferry missed the opening round on Friday, which saw Indonesia draw 2-2 with Lancang Kuning chess club from Malaysia, due to late arrival from his hometown of Batam in Riau.

Team manager Kristianus Lim told The Jakarta Post by phone on Saturday, "Barring no unexpected defeats, we will play favorite Forever Young either in the sixth or the seventh round."

The tournament is being played on the Swiss system, in which each team will play a maximum seven games. The system avoids a meeting between top ranked teams and bottom-placed teams.

"In general, they play pretty well, although they are losing some winning chances mostly because of their lack of self control. It's normal, they are still children," Kristianus said.

Forever Young, led by Master International Jimmy Liew, led the pack after four rounds with 15 victory points.

Kristianus said he set a realistic target for his team to finish third in the annual tournament.

Susanto and company join the open-class event this year after winning the under-18 category twice in a row.

"They need demanding exposure as they are expected to excel in the world junior championships in Spain in October," Kristianus said. (amd)