Chess feast: Participants wait to begin their matches on the opening day of the Japfa Chess Festival 2014 in Jakarta on Monday
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Some 500 chess players, including five foreign grandmasters, began competing in the ninth edition of the Japfa Chess Festival with a soccer-like scoring system being introduced for the first time.
The annual chess festival features 14 categories, including the Japfa Grandmaster Tournament and the Women's Chess Match.
However, the soccer-like scoring system, which awards three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, is only applied to team, veteran and under-18 matches.
The conventional scoring system in chess gives a point for a win, half a point for a draw and none for a loss.
'The advantage of using this soccer system is that we can avoid quick draws. They may be deterred from playing a draw because a win will be better than two draws,' tournament director Hendry Djamal said during the opening ceremony on Monday.
Vice chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) grandmaster (GM) Utut Adianto officially commenced the tournament.
In a bid to create scintillating games, the players are prohibited from looking for a draw under 25 moves. Otherwise, consent from the arbiter is needed if the two players propose a draw in their game.
'We cannot use this scoring system in all categories. The players are not accustomed to this just yet. So we take it as a test,' Hendry said.
The grandmaster tournament gives Indonesian players a chance to gain a GM norm, the initial step toward attainting a full GM title.
Denny Juswanto will need a third or last GM norm to be awarded a GM title. Farid Firmansyah and Tirta Chandra Purnama are seeking their first while Muhammad Lutfi Ali is pushing for his international master (IM) norm.
These are no easy tasks given the presence of highly rated opponents from overseas, including GM Sergei Tiviakov as the top seed, with him holding an Elo-rating of 2651.
'But that does not mean our players have no chance. They have to score at least 6.5 points for a GM norm,' Hendry said.
In the women's match, Indonesian number one Medina Warda Aulia will play a six-round game against Ticia Gara of Hungary.
Local players appear enthusiastic about competing in the tournament, which offers some US$8,000 in cash prizes in the international events and Rp 160 million in the other 12 categories.
'I'm arriving here with coach. My parents will follow,' said Ivan Lasama, who will compete in the under-10 category.
She spoke of taking third position in her category at the recent national championship. When asked about her winning prospects, she shyly said: 'I want to win'.
This year's festival is being held in relief following the recent developments that saw the Percasi decide not to hold the Indonesian Open 'due to political reasons.'
The Indonesian Open, the biggest international tournament in the country, is usually scheduled for September each year.
'We have promised to help develop chess in Indonesia. We have to stick to our promises. Japfa is immune from political infringements,' said Artsanti Alif, a representative from title sponsor Japfa Comfeed.
The chess competition will run until Friday.
Japfa Grandmaster Tournament
'¢GM Sergei Tiviakov (Ned/2651)
'¢GM Suat Atalik (Tur/2562)
'¢IM Nguyen Huyn Min (Vie/2474)
'¢IM Kirill Kuderinov (Kaz/2448)
'¢IM Rolando Nolte (Phi/2417)
'¢IM Danny Juswanto (Ina/2402)
'¢GM Cerdas Barus (Ina/2392)
'¢IM Farid Firmansyah (Ina/2392)
'¢IM Tirta Chandra Purnama (Ina/2380)
'¢FM Muhammad Lutfi Ali (Ina/2336)
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