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.