Nguyen wins chess duel securing unbeatable lead

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)