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Japfa Chess Festival results boost morale for Irene, Susanto in Philippines
After recently forcing higher-ranked opponents into an overall tie at the JAPFA Chess Festival, Woman Grand Master (WGM) Irene Kharisma Sukandar and Grand Master (GM) Susanto Megaranto got a confidence boost for the upcoming Asia Continental Chess Championship in the Philippines
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fter recently forcing higher-ranked opponents into an overall tie at the JAPFA Chess Festival, Woman Grand Master (WGM) Irene Kharisma Sukandar and Grand Master (GM) Susanto Megaranto got a confidence boost for the upcoming Asia Continental Chess Championship in the Philippines.
On Monday evening, both top Indonesian chess players headed off to Subic, the Philippines, for the Asian Continental Championship scheduled for April 20-30, which also serves as the qualification round for the World Chess Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, next year.
“I expect to get into the top five in Subic, so I can qualify for the World Chess Cup,” Susanto, 22, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
If Susanto qualifies, it would not be his first time. In 2007 Susanto made it to the World Chess Cup after finishing fifth in the Asian continental qualifier.
During his last-round duel against GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili (2634) of Georgia at the JAPFA Chess Festival in Jakarta (which concluded Monday), Susanto (2527) came out with a tie-result at the 14th move.
The sixth round closure summed up an overall draw result, comprising four ties plus one win each for Susanto and Mchedlishvili.
With the result, Susanto received nine additional points to make a total of 2536, while his opponent lost the same amount.
Susanto’s only victory was in the fourth round on Wednesday, when his Caro-Kann defense led him to close the round at the 37th move.
That same day Irene, 18, closed her last duel against Tania Sachdev of India with a tie at the 56th move with the Ruy-Lopez defense.
With a total of one win, one loss and two ties, Irene also got an overall draw result at the closure of her four-round duel with against Sachdev, who holds both Woman Grand Master and Men’s International Master titles.
Irene added 4.4 points to her current 2316 total, while Tania lost that amount from her current 2393 points.
“I can say that throughout the last three tournaments, I have been progressing. So, I expect to keep improving my play in Subic,” said Irene, adding that the target of qualifying for the World Chess Cup was not on her mind.
At the International Tashkent Chess Tournament in Uzbekistan in March, Irene acknowledged that she did not do well, but she improved in the following tournament — the Kuala Lumpur Open in Malaysia — where she finished 30th or nine levels above her previous rank.
“I prefer to not be too fixated on the results, but my focus is more on the improvement of my playing performance. I want to play better. That’s my target.”
Toward the year’s main event, the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Irene hoped for more sustainable training programs and tryouts than last year’s.
“I find that the continuing presence of a coach is a crucial element in the development of my performance,” said Irene, who after competing in Subic will depart to Ukraine for a month-long intensive coaching session with Ukrainian coach Vladimir Tukmakov.
