RI’s Cerdas Barus wins Telin chess tournament

JAKARTA: Grandmaster Cerdas Barus of Indonesian won the first Telin Chess International with 7.5 points in nine Swiss rounds at Graha Citra Caraka in Jakarta on Thursday.

Cerdas (2443 Elo) grabbed the title after beating his counterpart, International Master Irwanto Sadikin (2417 Elo), in the ninth round.

Grandmaster Gagunashvili Merab (2599) of Georgia got second place with 7 points, defeating International Master Purnama Tirta Chandra (2404) of Indonesia.

Grandmaster Dao Thien Hai secured third place with 7 points after finishing in a draw with Grandmaster Torre Eugenio of the Philippines.

Cerdas, 50, a talented player with physical disabilities, said through a translator that he was happy to win the international level title since his last victory was as a gold medalist in the 35th Chess Olympiad in 2002 in Bled, Slovenia.

“This victory is definitely an excellent comeback for Cerdas,” Yusuf Santiyono, Cerdas’ sign language translator, who is also an East Java Percasi (Indonesian Chess Association) official, told reporters on the last day of the tournament.

Cerdas, who played the white, ended Irwanto’s game in 38 moves.

“It was long and tight playing,” Yusuf said.

Winning US$5,000, Cerdas said he would like to spend some of it on a motorcycle.

With his current achievement, Cerdas will be among the athletes in pairings for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

On the women’s end, Woman Grandmaster Karlovich Anastazia (2204) of the Ukraine won first place, even as she was ranked 31st in the overall tournament, with 5.5 points.

Second place was won by young talent Woman FIDE Master Medina Warda Aulia (2035) of Indonesia with 5.0 points. — JP