Susanto-Dao showdown highlights chess event

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Young chess grand master Susanto Megaranto will take on regional heavyweight Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam in the main event of the Japfa Chess Festival here in May.

Susanto, 18, who attained his GM title at the Chess Olympiad in October, will play Dao, 27, in six rounds of classic chess from May 2-7 at Wisma Karsa Pemuda building in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The clock time is an hour and half for one player, with a 30- second increment for each move. The winner takes home US$1,500 and the loser $750.

"I contacted Dao three weeks ago and he confirmed he is coming. He is happy and feels honored by the invitation," Sebastian Simanjuntak, the ad interim secretary-general of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi), told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

The showdown will provide valuable matchplay for both players before the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila in December, in which Indonesia and Vietnam will be strong contenders in the sport.

"Dao is the highest rated player in the region. We can expect him to push Susanto to the limit," Sebastian said.

Although most of the attention will be on the Susanto-Dao matchup, the festival also features competition in some other categories: the women's Open division, under 20, under 14, veterans and non-master team, with cash prizes totaling Rp 80 million.

The nine-round event, according to Sebastian, will use an unprecedented system of prize distribution, particularly in the men's Open division, in an effort to curb rampant match fixing.

"We will start distributing the cash, based on a player's ranking, as early as round six. Players are encouraged to take their games seriously for their possible rise on the leaderboard," he said.

"Hopefully, this will be able to deter players from throwing a a game to prize-chasing contenders with the expectation of getting a portion of the cash."