Wed, 20 Mar 2002

Sasha too strong for Andrean

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Alexandra Kosteniuk doubled her lead over Indonesia's dream team squad in the Japfa Chess Match after beating Andrean Susilodinata in the second game at the VOC Cafe and Gallery in North Jakarta on Tuesday.

The Russian women's grand master also beat her 12-year-old opponent in the first game the day before.

She will now face 16-year-old Tirta Chandra in two games beginning on Wednesday before taking on 14-year-old Susanto Megaranto in the final two games.

Although it was the world runner-up he was up against, to lose out 2-0 must have upset the Indonesian team, who had been confident before the contest.

However, Andrean did not look a player with a good international reputation, especially in the second game where he was under pressure almost from the start.

Playing Black, he employed a Caro-Kann defense against Kosteniuk's e4 opening.

The first ten moves consisted of a buildup with both sides being evenly balanced until Kosteniuk switched her Queen to the e2 square to provoke Andrean into greedily going after material advantage.

He took the bait, which resulted in the game promptly swinging in the Russian's favor.

"It is normally played. I have seen the move before," she said about her 11th move. "But no one took d4," she said about Andrean's response.

Andrean must have been shocked by Kosteniuk's Bishop maneuver on the d-file in the following moves as not only did his Queen have little room to escape, he was also deprived of the castling right. The Queen was then gone.

"Andrean must have overlooked the Bishop maneuver. It was a dismantling move," said Indonesian team coach GM Utut Adianto, who watched the game in the analyzing room. Eka Putra Wirya, the chairman of the organizing committee, was also on the scene.

Although she had established a big advantage, Kosteniuk appeared unable to bring the game to an easy and immediate conclusion.

"I had a winning position, but then I was not precise myself," she said.

With the Queen still on the board and other pieces still active, Kosteniuk's offensive was massive, forcing Andrean, who in contrast had his pieces undeveloped, to move his King to and fro to dodge a mating net.

Andrean tried to hang on but finally crashed out after 54 moves. Both of his remaining two pieces were doomed while Kosteniuk's h-pawn marched to promotion.

Japfa Chess Match (Day 2) White: WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2469) Black: Andrean Susilodinata (2244) Result: 1-0

1.e4-c6 2.d4-d5 3.Nd2-dxe4 4. Nxe4-Bf5 5.Ng3-Bg6 6.Bc4-e6 7.Ne2- Bd6 8.h4-h6 9.Nf4-Bxf4 10.Bxf4-Nf6 11.Qe2-Qxd4 12.Be5-Qc5 13.O-O- O-Bxc2 14.Bd6-Bxd1 15.Rxd1-Qa5 16.Bxe6-fxe6 17.Qxe6+-Kd8 18.Bb4+- Qd5 19.Be7+-Kc7 20.Bd6+-Kb6 21.Qe3-Ka6 22.Rxd5-Nxd5 23.Qa3+Kb6 24.Qc5+-Ka6 25.b4-b6 26.b5+-Ka5 27.Qa3+-Kxb5 28.Qd3+-Ka5 29.Nf5- b5 30.Qa3+-Kb6 31.Bc5+-Kb7 32.Nd6+-Kc7 33.Nf7-Rg8 34.Qg3+-Kc8 35.Nxh6-Re8 36.Nf7-Re1 37.Kd2-Ra1 38. Nd6+-Kd8 39. Qg5+-Nf6 40. Qxg7-Rxa2+ 41.Ke3-Nd7 42.Qh8+-Kc7 43.Qxa8+-Nxc5 44.Ne8+-Nxe8 45.Qxe8-Ra3+ 46.Ke2-Ra4 47.Qf7+-Kb6 48.h5-b4 49.h6-b3 50.h7-Re4+ 51.Kd2-Rd4+ 52.Kc3-Rd3+ 53.Kc4-Rd8 54.Qe7, 1-0