The event was held at the city of Batam, Kepulauan Riau province. We could call it a festival instead of a championship with total participants close to 600 players. It was strange to find out that U18G and U20G sections lacked of interests. The two had to merge into one with separate calculations for the winners.
Sandy Kurniawan, 2005 U20 National Champion, won the open section while Gerhana Ch Kartina dominated the girls. It was worth noting that many talented young players swarmed the event. Surya, Satibi, Gokok, Taufanadhie, Priambodo, Masruri, Gerhana, Yemi, and Chelsie all soon became national champions in their respective age group.
We have controversies surrounding the first Indonesia National Championship. Some say that the event was held at Semarang 1952. The others point out to a championship at Solo 1953. We are going to follow the latter since it is officially approved by Percasi (All Indonesia Chess Federation).
Semarang City team won the event. It was no surprise since the team practically fielded the best players in Central Java: Joko Santoso, Nursiyo, Jumadi, Saiful Fajar, and Marwanto. The event was held in Ungaran, a capital city of Semarang Regency. The city is famous as one of culinary destinations in Central Java.
We in IndonesiaBase are still working on Indonesia National Championships facts and games. Let us know if you find something incorrect or missing. GM Ardiansyah is holding the record by winning the title five times but GM Susanto Megaranto most possibly would break the record sooner or later.
Overseas players dominated the arena. No Indonesian players were found in the big ten. The best Indonesian player was Denny Juswanto at 11th. A consolation prize for the host came from Sebastian Simanjuntak. He secured IM norm with Myanmar’s Zaw Win Lay and Philippines’ Luis Chiong Romero.
Indonesian ace GM Utut Adianto Wahjoewidajat added another highlight to his already glittering résumé although this time he had to share it with GM Jörg Hickl, an eccentric player from Germany. For Hickl the win should be a relief after his disastrous performance in a previous tournament in Indonesia that left him in the bottom of the table.
