Irene poised for medal at chess Olympiad
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's chess squad may be struggling at the chess Olympiad in Calvia, Spain, but Irene Kharisma is poised to win a consolation medal after chalking up another win on Tuesday.
The 12-year-old rising star defeated Katerina Jonoska in Indonesia's match with Macedonia in the 11th round of the women's event at the world chess team competition.
Irene's victory, however, was not enough to lead the team past Macedonia, as Norasa Verdiana and Evi Lindiawati fell to Gabriela Koskoska and Vesna Sekulovska, respectively.
The defeat put the Indonesian side in 60th place out of 87 teams with 15.5 points. The competition, which also features a men's event, will include 14 rounds.
However, the Indonesian team might be able to expect some consolation with Irene in second place in the race to be the best performer on board three.
Irene is unbeaten and has collected nine points out of a total possible of 11. She has won seven games and drawn four.
Her sparkling play has also earned Irene a FIDE Master title.
"Irene has surpassed the minimum point percentage of 60 percent, as required by world's chess governing body FIDE," chess observer Kristianus Liem told The Jakarta Post.
Irene was non-fielded in Indonesia's match against Venezuela, to give the 12-year-old a rest and also to keep her from dropping any points.
"That is a smart strategy. The team is definitely going nowhere, so they want to preserve Irene's personal chance," Kristianus said.
In the men's event, which features 129 teams, young Indonesian players Susanto Megaranto and Tirta Chandra managed to hold on for draws against their higher-rated opponents, though the team still lost 3-1 to England.
Susanto, who holds a rating of 2439, forced England ace Michael Adams (2740), who is one of the top 10 players in the world, to share the points, while Tirta (2286) drew with Jonathan Speelman (2555).
On the other two boards, however, Indonesia suffered losses, with Dede Liu (2397) losing to Nigel Short (2687) and Taufik Halay to Peter Wells (2504).