Susanto ties with Zander in U-16 meet

Susanto ties with Zander in U-16 meet

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian chess player Susanto Megaranto drew
1.5-1.5 with non-seeded Severino Zander of the Philippines in the
45th move of the Scandinavian opening during the sixth game of
the Asian Continental Boys Under-16 championships at the NPC
training center in Bataan, the Philippines, some 160kms from
Manila.

Susanto, who held the white pieces, was able to surround all
of Zander's pieces in lane seven and only allowed his rook to
move. The blockade was maintained until the 28th move.

But in the 29th move, Susanto suffered a time crisis and had
only four minutes left for nine moves. With only two minutes left
for five moves, Susanto was unable to find a winning solution.

He accepted Zander's offer to draw after the Filipino forced
him to give up his queen.

Zander tops the standing with 5 Match Points (MP). Susanto,
top seeded in the event, was second with 4.5 MPs but he
outclassed seeded Oliver Barbosa of the Philippines who also
collected 4.5 MPs. Susanto will face Barbosa in the seventh game.

Separately, executive chairman of the Indonesian Chess
Association (Percasi) Eka Putra Wirya said that the association
would send junior chess players to the European Chess
Championships to increase their competitiveness.

"The junior players only have the chance to compete in
Southeast Asian-level tournaments or Asian-level tournaments at
the most. But now we will send them to Europe," he was quoted by
Antara as saying.

"Sometimes they play very well and produce surprises but at
other times they lose after making unnecessary blunders due to
their psychological imbalances."

Percasi spokesman Kristianus Liem cited an example in the age-
group world chess championships in Oropesa del Mar in Spain in
October when Susanto (13), Taufik Halay (13) and Andrean (10)
missed the association's target of entering the world's top
three.

"Victory was right before their eyes but it turned into tragic
defeat because they seemed to lose concentration," said
Kristianus, also a chess observer. (ivy)