Nguyen wins chess duel securing unbeatable lead

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian junior chess player Andrean Susilodinata was no match for Vietnamese Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son after conceding in the 62nd move on the fourth day of junior duel meet on Wednesday.

Nguyen has collected 2.5 Match Points (MPs) compared to Andrean's 0.5 MPs to claim overall victory in the meet. The result means that the final session on Thursday is no longer decisive.

If Andrean managed to force a tie result on Wednesday, he would still have had a chance to improve on his points tally during Thursday's session, which takes place at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel on Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta.

Using Caro-Kann opening, Andrean spent more time pondering his moves than Nguyen. As a result, the 11-year-old Indonesian was under pressure after the 38th move, still having to complete two more moves in the remaining six minutes.

National Master (MN) Bing Sardjono, who provided commentary for the match, said Andrean could still force a tie.

"It was an absolute tie result. Unfortunately, Andrean lost. He could have tied if he promoted his pawn at f7, which was being guarded by the white king in e7," he said.

"Even if the promoted piece was then taken by Nguyen's rook, the king could seize the rook and leave both players in an equal position with two kings and two pawns each.

"There were still several alternatives which would have led to a tie," he continued.

Instead of promoting the pawn, Andrean moved his king from e7 to e8, giving Nguyen enough time to move his king from d4 to e5, and threatened Andrean's pawn in g5.

It was already too late for Andrean to think of other alternatives when Nguyen's rook finally took Andrean's pawn in f7. Bing said that Andrean's king could have snatched the rook as Nguyen's king was getting closer to Andrean's pawn in g5.

After the match, Nguyen reconstructed the ending and showed that all the alternatives would have led to a tie if Andrean promoted his pawn in f7.

Meanwhile, international referee Djamil Djamal said Andrean had to learn more in order to fare well in the final outcome.

"Nguyen saw all the possibilities and was more than happy to see that Andrean didn't promote his pawn. Nguyen himself is not too special in foreseeing the final position," Djamil said.

"Actually, earlier, Andrean had several options to force a tie but missed the chances," he said.

Djamil said that Andrean should have moved his pawns along the f-, g- and h-lines to block Nguyen's pawns in g- and h-lines.

"This way Andrean could have offered the tie earlier."

Nguyen told reporters he would still win the final session to strengthen his victory. (nvn)