Nine men's chess players advance to second round

JAKARTA (JP): Nine men cruised into the second round of the 34th Chess Olympic Games national selection tournament on Wednesday.

FIDE Master (FM) Awam Wahono of West Java posted a comfortable 2-0 win over National Master (NM) Mirwansyah of East Kalimantan. NM Nessy Suheri of East Java overcame NM Sugeng Prayitno of Jakarta 2-0, while International Master (IM) Dede Liu of Jakarta beat NM Ali Bahar of Aceh 2-0. NM Sebastian Simanjuntak of Bali survived his first test with a 2-0 victory over FM Irwin Irnandi of West Java.

NM Suyud Hartoyo of East Java, FM Hamdani Rudin of West Java, NM Cecep Kosasih of West Java, NM Yosep R. Majella of Jakarta and FM Syarif Mahmud of Jakarta all posted 1.5-0.5 victories over IM Salor Sitanggang of West Java, NM Yusdi Mursalin of South Kalimantan, Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) Master (PM) Taufik Halay of West Java, NM Susanto Megaranto of West Java and NM Ruby Tamono of West Sumatra, respectively.

The spokesman of the Indonesian Chess Association, Kristianus Liem, said the men's event used a knock-out system while the women's event was employing the seven-round Swiss system. The tournament will end on Aug. 10.

Four winners on the men's side and two from the women's will join the national teams for the chess Olympics in Istanbul from Oct. 28 to Nov. 14.

Six men's players will take part in a play-off after ending the first two rounds tied 1-1. They are NM Deni Sonjaya of West Java who will play IM Nathanael Situru of Jakarta, NM Yansen Lokananta of East Java who will face NM Irawan Thjin of Jakarta, and FM Kasmiran of South Sumatra who will confront FM Irwanto of Jakarta.

The six will play rapid matches of 25 minutes each for the two-round play-off. Should they end this round in a tie, they will compete in another round of rapid chess under sudden death rules, where white chess will be played in five minutes and black chess in four minutes. The white side will be declared the loser in the event of a draw.

On the women's side, NM Suyati of Central Java and NM Yulianti Tjindarbumi of Jakarta earned two points a piece in the first two rounds.

Suyati beat NM Iis Aisyah of West Java and NM Imasniti of Jakarta, while Yulianti overcome NM Tuty Rahayu of North Sumatra and NM Endang Sriwulan of East Java. (ivy)