Malang, a city with nice weather in the eastern hemisphere of Java, had an honour to hold Indonesia National Chess Championship for the second time. The first in 1958 has gone down into the Indonesian chess history as the most chaotic National Championship ever. The 1974 Natonal Championship marked the return of IM Ardiansyah to the throne.
The chess event was held to honour GM Yuri Averbakh during his visit to Indonesia. Not all of the best Indonesian players participated, most notably Baris Hutagalung and Ang Tjing Sing. Baris won the last National Championship held at Jakarta, 1955. He was arranged to play Averbakh in a separate one-on-one match.
FM Nurdin Askali of South Celebes surprisingly emerged victorious in the chess event. He collected 8 VP. FM Irwanto Sadikin (DKI Jakarta) gained the same VP but lost on the PS tie-break. At the third place was FM Kasmiran (DKI Jakarta). The Elo favorites FM Maksum Firdaus and FM Irawan Tjhin could only score 50%.
The surprise winner of the event was Johny Suwuh of DKI Jakarta. He won ahead of more heralded players IM Ardiansyah, Arovah Bachtiar, and defending champion Jacobus Sampouw. Suwuh was not really a new face in the chess arena. He had been playing since 1960s but had never made a breakthrough until this event.
Indonesia had a new chess champion in 28-year-old Jacobus Sawandar Sampouw who employed an interesting style. The Ujung Pandang born tended to play positionally with a big attention to the opening details, something that we couldn’t find from the past champions such as Arovah Bachtiar or Ardiansyah.
Dominos Fritz Kilian Nicolas Harahap had an 8-year-stint as a Chairman of Percasi (All Indonesia Chess Federation) during 1956-64. Although he was no longer a Percasi official, he remained as a prominent figure among Indonesian chess community. The event was held by Percasi to pay tribute to him.
The event turned out to be GM Edhi Handoko’s exhibition. He scored mercilessly, 18 VP out of 20 games or 90%. The one man show was easy to predict since no other national chess élite participated. NM Nessy Suheri, NM Cecep Kosasih, and NM Abir Dipo were probably the closest ones that could give Handoko a decent game.
