Susanto 6th in Asia junior chess c'ship

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's Susanto Megaranto lost his chance of being crowned the continent's best at the Asian Junior Chess Championship in Colombo after losing at the last hurdle over the weekend.

His defeat to second seed International Master (IM) Mark Paragua of the Philippines dropped Susanto to sixth place from second place going into the conclusion of the week-long tournament.

Susanto, the only Indonesian to take part in the 25th edition of the tournament, earlier sprung a surprise on the penultimate day with the scalping of top seed Ghaem Maghami of Iran. With the highest elo rating of 2519, Maghami was the only contender among the 30-strong field holding a Grand Master title.

A win would have catapulted Susanto to the championship title at the expense of overnight leader Indian player Deepan Chakkravarthy, who managed only a draw with host player Athula Russell on the final day.

With Susanto, who would have beaten the Indian on a commanding progressive score had he won the final game, wasted his last chance, enabling sixth seeded Chakkravarthy to emerge the winner with eight points.

Another Indian, Satyapragyan Swayangsu, also finished with eight points after downing compatriot Gogineni Rohit. But Swayangsu had to be content with second place as compatriot Chakkravarthy had a better progressive score.

India made a clean sweep by taking the top three positions after Sundararajan Kidambi finished third with half a point adrift. Kidambi beat Paragua and Ghaem, who also collected 7.5 points, on progressive score ruling.

Susanto, seeded fifth this year, finished on seven points.

Chakkravarthy was granted the IM title plus the winner's US$1,000 cash prize following his success.

Susanto also donned the Indonesian colors at the World Junior Chess Championships in Oropessa del Mar, Spain, last November, where he finished fifth in the U-14 age group.