RI beats Brazil at chess Olympiad
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's men's squad beat Brazil while their female compatriots held Luxembourg to a draw on Monday in the 10th round of the chess Olympiad in Calvia, Spain.
International Master (IM) Susanto Megaranto, 17 years old, maintained his winning streak by defeating Grand Master Henrique Mecking to lead Indonesia to a 2.5-1.5 victory over Brazil, according to www.36chessolympiad.com.
The team's other win was contributed by FIDE Master (FM) Taufik Halay, who beat Ivan Nogueira while IM Dede Liu drew with IM Cicero Braga and Tirta Chandra lost to FM Alexander Fier.
In the ninth round on Sunday, Susanto emerged the only winner as Indonesia overcame New Zealand also with 2.5-1.5 victory.
Two back-to-back victories, which came at the backdrop of their crushing defeat by the Philippines in the eighth round, gave Indonesia an overall 21.5 points to stay in 45th place out of 129 teams from 128 countries.
Seven other teams collected equal points including England whom Indonesia faced in the 11th of 14-round world chess team competition on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Irene Kharisma took her fourth consecutive win but the Indonesian women's team had to be content with a 1.5-1.5 draw with Luxembourg.
On Monday, Irene delivered the only full point for the team with her win over Myriam Pleim. Evi Lindiawati drew with Grazyna Bakalarz while Norasa Verdiana was beaten by WGM Elvira Berend.
It was Irene's sixth win during the tournament in addition to four draws to put her as the fourth best performer on board three -- behind WGM Zhao Xue of China, IM Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine and WIM Josefina Martinez of Venezuela -- with personal collection of 8 points.
China dominated the women's competition, topping the standings with 24.5 points. Hungary was in a distant second place with 20 points followed by the United States, India and Georgia with 19.5 points each.
The men's section saw Ukraine on top with 29 points, two points above second-placed and reigning champion Russia, while Armenia was in third with 26.5 points.