The best Indonesian player, GM Susanto Megaranto, had confirmed his ticket to the 2021 Chess World Cup after overcoming GM Novendra Priasmoro through an Armageddon game in the Japfa Grandmaster Duel Match at the Utut Adianto Chess School (SCUA), Bekasi on May 19th, 2021. Megaranto who had white pieces finally checkmated Priasmoro with only a few seconds left in his clock.
The 4th in a series of chess matches between two cities, Semarang and Djokdja (Yogyakarta), took place on 24-25th August 1923 at the Jansen Hotel, Semarang, Central Java. The host, which trailed by 4 points at the start of the match, turned the tables to win the overall series 53.5-50.5. Semarang proved that they were the more balanced team although Djokdja had the multiple Java Kampioen Jan Bleijkmans on the 1st board.
The match produced only one decisive game played in a classical time control in round 2. The game was won by the Indonesian player. The other games ended in draws. With the results IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar beat IM Almira Skripchenko 2.5-1.5. Sukandar stayed humble as always afterwards. She said to a reporter that Skripchenko’s jet lag might have a bearing to her defeat.
WGM Medina Warda Aulia played Philippine WGM Janelle Mae Frayna in a 5-round chess match. The event was held at the Ministry of Youth and Sport. It was part of Japfa Festival 2018. Medina was the second Indonesian WGM while Janelle was the first Philippine WGM. The question was not who was going to win the match but rather how big the margin of the final scores would be.
The chess match became an event for the Indonesian hopeful young talent IM Novendra Priasmoro to hunt the Grand Master (GM) title. His current Elo rating, 2495, was still shy away from the minimum requirement of 2500. In this match Novendra was going to play Vietnamese GM Nguyễn Anh Dũng for 6 rounds. Novendra was required to score 4 points or more to obtain the GM title.
A famous Dutch chess master Lodewijk Prins visited Indonesia in 1956. He spent two and half months traveling around Java, Sumatera, and Borneo. He played at Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Semarang, Medan, and Pematang Siantar. He also visited the city of Banjarmasin, South Borneo. He played in many simultaneous exhibitions and matches with the best local players on equal terms.
Vietnam is developing to be the next chess powerhouse alongside China and India. Their undeniable domination in the 26th SEA Games 2011 at Palembang, Indonesia, is just another proof. Vietnam seized 6 gold medals of possible 9. The rest of golds was shared equally by Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand.
