The 17th Indonesia National Chess Championship introduced many new faces. IM Ardiansyah, Jacobus Sampouw, and Arovah Bachtiar still sat down on top but Monang Sinulingga, Ridwan Gozali, Mukmin Panggabean, MHS Nainggolan, Abdul Azis Riduan, and the other usual suspects were nowhere to be found in the big 20.
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.
GM Yuri Lvovich Averbakh of USSR visited Indonesia for the second time. The first was in 1956. This time he wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by a promising player Vladimir Konstantinovich Bagirov. Percasi (All Indonesia Chess Federation) held two 8-match tournaments to pay tribute to the players.
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 form when she played amazingly in the Indonesia-France Women Match last year.
The host chess players registered a huge success in this event. Three players nailed new titles. Bayu Suharjito (48-year old) and Pasek Budarsa (51) grabbed an FM title and a new Elo rating of 2318 while Iin Kadek Dwijayanti (27) secured a WFM title. The other Bali player FM Zulkifli Tunasly went to the top to capture the tournament trophy.
The Indonesian-first-GM-to-be Herman Suradiradja won the 1975 National Chess Championship and deservedly so. He left a big chasing group one full VP behind. The pre-tournament favorite and defending champion IM Ardiansyah, Arovah Bachtiar, and seven other players belonged to that group.
The 1993 Chinese National Chess Champion FM Tóng Yuānmíng showed a class of his own. He won the tournament in convincing fashion. He grabbed his last needed IM norm in the process. Indonesia also did well. The host registered IM norms for three players: FM Salor Sitanggang, Nathanael Situru, and Gunadarma player Dede Lioe.
