Teenage Evie continues charge at chess tourney

Teenage Evie continues charge at chess tourney

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After winning the seven-round competition of the classic games on
Sunday, Evie Lindiawati continued her charge at the Anniswati Cup
women's chess tournament in the rapid games here on Monday.

The 16-year-old led the rapid games competition by a point
after she had amassed 4.5 points from a possible 5.

Rapid games allow 25 minutes of thinking time, compared with
1.5 hours in classic games.

At the tournament, being held at the F. Sumanti Chess Center
in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, Evie achieved four wins and a
draw. The draw came from the pairing against Susianah Handayani.

She beat Fitria, Irene Sukandar, Amalia Andra and Upi
Darmayana Tamin, the only international master holder left in the
tournament, following the withdrawal of Lisa Lumongdong.

Hendry Jamal, from the organizing committee, said that Lisa,
who qualified for national team selection after finishing in
second place in the classic games, had left the tournament due to
academic commitments.

Imasniti, the other absentee, has office commitments at the
West Jakarta administration, so she has also decided to withdraw.

The participant line-up may have changed but Evie does not
seem to have dropped a gear, which showed, as she admitted, her
laborious efforts during training.

Being far from self-complacent, Evie said she had worked hard
to improve her skills. "I train five times a week, taking around
three hours each time," she told The Jakarta Post.

"I will try to win in every game on Tuesday," she said.

On the other hand, Upi, whom Evie outwitted in their game in
the fifth round on Monday, admitted to training only once a week.

"That may make a difference between us," said Upi, the 1997
Asian champion.

In a Ruy Lopez game, Upi made a glaring blunder when she
overlooked that her rook was under threat on move 25. Evie
marched with a killing attack to force Upi to abandon the game in
the following move.

"What a damn slip-up. That's signaling I'm getting old. I was
worn out by the previous five days of playing," said Upi, who
refused to reveal her exact age, but said that she was nearing
40.

Upi had to be content with 3.4 points, the same as Yulianti
Tjindarbumi. Irene Sukandar amassed three points followed by a
pack of five players with 2.5 points each.

An extreme drop in performance was palpable in Norasa
Verdiana. The 15-year-old, like Lisa Lumongdong, secured a ticket
to the national team as well as a national master attainment
after her impressive play in the classic games.

However, she made a U-turn in the first five rounds of the
rapid games, collecting only half a point from her draw with
Lamria Situmeang in the second round.

The players will square up to each other on Tuesday to play
the last four rounds.