Tirta, Gerhana triumph as Vietnam dominates

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesians Tirta Chandra Purnama and female compatriot 8-year-old Gerhana triumphed at the Junior ASEAN Chess Championships in Kuala Lumpur, which was dominated overall by the Vietnamese team.

The nine-round tournament, in which participants competed for titles in 10 separate age categories, ended on Friday.

Tirta, who played in the U-18 age category, collected eight points overall from nine games. His drubbing of Vietnamese Trananh Tri in the final round on Friday was his sixth win on the trot, or eight in total at the tournament.

His only loss came at the hands of Vu Dinh Hung in the third round. The Vietnamese finished in second place followed by Lim Chuin Hoong of Malaysia.

The victory must have been a consolation for the 15-year-old Tirta after he skipped last month's Asian tournament because he arrived too late at the airport to catch his scheduled flight.

Gerhana triumphed in her first international appearance, amassing six points in the U-8 category to beat Nguyen Ngoc Phuang Khanh of Vietnam and Hoen Huei Danielle of Singapore to second and third place respectively.

Tirta and Gerhana's achievement means that Indonesia, which fielded 15 players -- 11 boys and four girls -- in the tournament, could only take two of the ten trophies on offer.

Apart from the two titles, the other contenders fared below par. Even silver or bronze meals proved elusive for them, most of whom were playing in their international debut.

"The kids looked to be "stage-intoxicated" in their first international performance," team's manager Nike Setiawati told The Jakarta Post from Kuala Lumpur by phone.

Vietnam, whose squad included 2000 world champion Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, dominated the tournament with seven trophies, leaving Singapore to take the other remaining title in the boys U-8 category with Christer Jon Alpin.

Nguyen, who upset the rising Indonesian teenage star, Andrean Susilodinata, in a head-to-head meet in Jakarta last March, led the Vietnamese team by taking the boys U-12 title.

His triumphant compatriots were Hoang Chanh Huan (boys U-16), Vo Thanh Ninh (boys U-14), Le Quong Liem (boys U-10), Nguyen Thi Thuy (girls U-16), Le Phu Nguyen Thao (girls U-14) and Ngo Kim Tuyen (girls U-10).

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines and Thailand. The latter four did not field teams at the tournament.