2013.04.14-19. Double Round Robin 10 rounds. 6 players. g/90/30. Rating average 2315. Category III. WGM norm 6.5.
WIM Chelsie Monica Ignesias Sihite and WIM Medina Warda Aulia fell short in the 8th Japfa Chess Festival WGMs Tournament. Sihite scored well enough for a plenty of more ratings but not a WGM norm. Aulia was yet to rediscover her last year form when she played amazingly in the Indonesia-France Women Match.
The tournament which was held at Serba Guna Building, Senayan, Jakarta on April 14-19, 2013, was co-championed by Romanian WGM Alina l’Ami and French IM Sophie Milliet. They both collected 6 VP. l’Ami edged out Milliet on a better tie-break to claim the top prize.
The standing table shows how tight the competition was. Except WIM Natacha Benmesbah of France who was lagged behind, the other players had fought fiercely to become the champion. l’Ami needed a last round victory to catch up Milliet. At the same round Milliet failed to notch a full point against Slovak WGM Julia Kochetkova while two Indonesian players who still had a shot for the first place drew their game. The tournament was concluded with only a point that separated between the number one (l’Ami) and the number five (Aulia).
Although the host failed to deliver a WGM norm, Eka Putra Wirya, the head of the organizer and a Percasi (All Indonesia Chess Federation) official, had only a praise to the players, “Their WGM title is only a matter of time. Their performances were quite satisfactory.”