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Irene fails to secure a place in world chess championships
Indonesian chess prodigy Irene Kharisma Sukandar fell short of securing a place for the women's chess championship as the Asian Continental Chess Championship turned into a stumbling hurdle for Indonesian competitors
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Indonesian chess prodigy Irene Kharisma Sukandar fell short of securing a place for the women's chess championship as the Asian Continental Chess Championship turned into a stumbling hurdle for Indonesian competitors.
Irene ended up only in 11th place among 45 players at the Asian Chess Championship in Subic, Philippines, which also served as a qualifying field for the world championship in 2010.
Irene had been expected to finish in the top three, and win a place in the world championship but her hopes were dashed as Irene failed to maintain her winning form, which had given a surprise win over Grand Master Zhu Chen, the Chinese born with Qatar nationality, in the earlier stage of the 11-round competition
But the 17-year old returns home with US$500 in prize money.
Irene's victory over Singaporean Jeslin Tay Li-Jin of Singapore in the 10th round on Friday pushed her to the 13th rank from the previously 16.
"It is the best game Irene has played *so far*," said her coach Grand Master Lasha Janjagava said in a release on Friday. However, a draw with Tania Sachdev of India in the final round was just enough to give her a 11th place on the standings.
The Asian Continental Chess Championship, which ran from May 13, featured 85 men's and 45 women's players from 18 Asian countries. This included 39 men's grand masters holders, and one women's GM title holder.
A total of US$50,000 was offered in the men's section and $15,000 in the women's section. While the championship picks the top three in the women's section for the world championship, the men's section offered 10 places the World Cup Chess Championship in Khanty Mansyisk, Russia, between 20 Nov. and 15 Dec.
Susanto Megaranto, the team's best hopeful, could only finish in 39th place spoiling his bid for his second chance in the championship.
The Philippines outing witnessed an uncontrolled burst of disappointment when he ripped off the annotation piece after he lost to Yu Yangyi of China in the 10th round.
Other Indonesians Irwanto Sadikin, Awam Wahono and Anjas Novita did worse.
China swept all three places in the women's section while it also finished strongly in the men's section by taking five places followed by India (3), Vietnam (1) and the Philippines (1).
