Y

oseph Theolifus Taher scored only a half-point after drawing his sixth-round game at the Japfa International Chess Tournament, but he still holds hope of collecting his International Master (IM) norm.

A certain number of IM norms from World Chess Federation (FIDE)-sanctioned tournaments are required by a chess player who is chasing an IM title.

On Thursday, Yoseph was forced into a draw after playing 30 moves of a French game with Duong The Anh of Vietnam.

At the end of the game, Yoseph was left with a knight and bishop while his opponent had a pair of bishops.

“It was difficult for my knight to go forward. I think the best I could do was offer him a draw, which he accepted,” he said.

Playing the white pieces, the 18-year-old FIDE Master (FM) title holder developed his game but Duong had countering resources up his sleeve.

“Once I activated my piece, he duly neutralized it by forcing a swap,” Yoseph said.

The draw, which was his third in the tournament, gave Yoseph a total of 3.5 points. He has won twice and lost once.

He scored wins over Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar in the second round and fellow Indonesian Irwanto Sadikin in the third round.

His only loss came at the hands of Hoang Thi Bao Tram, a female chess player from Vietnam, in the opening round.

Yoseph will need to score another 2.5 points up to the ninth round, or 4 points up to the 11th round.

He expressed confidence about his next challenge, singling out Alina L’ami, whom he will face in the seventh round, as a possible spoiler.

“She will be opening with a d4 for sure. She is that kind of positional player but is able to pose dangerous attacks,” he said.

“I should be more offensive in the next rounds,” he added.

Meanwhile, Medina Warda Aulia, one of the women’s contenders in the open category, has yet to live up to her game.

She stumbled to her fourth draw on Thursday against fellow Indonesian Tirta Chandra Purnama, leaving her at the bottom of the standings with 2 points.

Losses in the other two games summed up her below-par performance, which event director Kristianus Liem put down to a lack of fitness.

“A month before the tournament, she was admitted to hospital after fainting,” Kristianus said.

“After one day she was discharged but three days later she was rushed to hospital again and was treated for two days.

“She had forced herself to do college work until late. […] She lacked rest. But when we asked her about her preparedness for the tournament, she said she was ready,” he said.

He added that Medina showed a lack of stamina particularly when the game entered its third hour of play.

“She would lose concentration,” he said.

In other matches, two Indonesians scored wins with Novendra Priasmoro prevailing over Wynn Zaw Htun and Irwanto Sadikin over Nay Oo Kyaw Tun. Aleksander Wohl of Australia also ended the day with a victory over L’ami.

Hoang was held to a draw by Jodi Setiyaki.

The 11-round tournament continues on Friday with the seventh round in the morning and eighth round in the afternoon.