Irene up against world No. 2 in chess matchup
Irene up against world No. 2 in chess matchup
Musthofid, Jakarta
After a convincing performance, Indonesia's top young chess
star Irene Kharisma is poised for another challenge when she
meets world number two Sopiko Guramishvili of Georgia in Jakarta.
The series of matches are scheduled to take place at the Utut
Adianto Chess School II in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, from
July 12 to 16.
Two rapid and four classic games will be played. The rapid
game allows 25 minutes of total accumulated thinking time for the
match compared to classic's 90 minutes with an increment of 30
seconds per move.
"The match between the two young chess stars, one of which
could be the next world champion, will energize the Indonesian
chess scene," said a press release from the Indonesian Chess
Association (Percasi) said here on Thursday.
Guramishvili, now 13, placed second in the girls' under-12
category at the 2003 World Youth Chess Championships, in which
Irene finished ninth.
Guramishvili, who was born on January 1, 1991, has already
attained her Women's FIDE Master (WFM) title with her current
elo-rating of 2130 as of July.
Her career-high rating was 2149 in January. Her latest
achievement was finishing tied for second place with two others
in the boys' under-16 Georgia national chess championships in
April.
Guramishvili is a member of the Nana Alexandria Chess School.
The school is named after Georgia's best woman's player who has
become the world title contender twice.
According to Kristianus Liem, a member of the organizing
committee, Guramishvili will arrive in Jakarta on Monday,
accompanied by father Tamaz and brother Ketevan Guramishvili.
"The match has been programmed as part of Irene's preparation
ahead of the next world championships in Greece," Kristianus
said.
The organizers will provide a total of US$1,500, two-thirds of
which will go to the winner.
The match will be another test for the 12-year-old Irene after
she scored a 4-0 victory over To Li-Cheng during the Indonesia-
Singapore chess matchup in Jakarta in May.