IndonesiaBase

All members of Indonesian team for Bled Chess Olympiad 2002 participated. They were GM Cerdas Barus, IM Ivan Situru, FM Irwanto Sadikin, FM Awam Wahono, Andi Ahmad Nur Jabal, and Susanto Megaranto. Susanto drew the most of spectators’ attentions. At fifteen he was the hottest rising star in Indonesia.

The 7th National Championship had a different format than the previous ones. Firstly players had to qualify to represent their regions/provinces. Those players then played in a challenger tournament. Finally the winner of this tournament was arranged to play in a match with the defending champion Baris Hutagalung.

National Master Ruddy Lantang sponsored a rating chess tournament. It filled the void of international chess events in Indonesia where non-rated players could play and get ratings. According to FIDE regulations, to get rated in a Swiss System tournament a non-rated player should play at least four players with ratings.

When Baris M Hutagalung was in his zone, no body could stop him. Not Max Arie Wotulo, not Arovah Bachtiar, and not everyone else. Baris came out as a convincing winner in the 6th Indonesia National Championship. He collected a massive 10 VP from 12 games for the first place. The runner-ups were Max and Merlep Ginting with 9 VP.

How often do you see a ten years old kid beat a GM? Muhammad Ihsan Siregar did just that in 2nd Lampung Chess Festival. He beat GM Ardiansyah in 53 moves at 8th round. The win also meant a Percasi Master norm for him. Ihsan was not the only player who got a norm. Four players grabbed NM norms and seven ones nailed PM norms.

As part of the preparation for the World Championship Match, Dr Machgielis (Max) Euwe visited Indonesia in 1930. Euwe played many games, literally hundreds of them, at the cities of Sumatera and Java. Beside playing simultaneous exhibitions, Euwe played matches with the best local players on equal terms.

The final stage had never been played. The cause was something tragically funny. It was ‘funny’ because it didn’t make sense. We said ‘tragic’ since that funny cause was responsible for halting the most important national chess event in Indonesia. The lesson is we should stick to an agreement once it has already been made.