IndonesiaBase

The newly wed Judit Polgar wrapped the tournament neatly to give herself a memorable present and another pinnacle in her career. The event produced one strange game when Ruben Gunawan agreed to draw in much better position against his fellow Indonesian Utut Adianto Wahyuwidayat.

The best Indonesian players, Handoko, Ardiansyah, and Kileng, could only grab runner up positions. Indian Raja Ravisekhar won the event. For the host players Syarif Mahmud and Achmad Fauzi, the tournament was their first international appearance. Both players had respectable places on the table.

Utut Adianto tried very hard to prove that he was the best Indonesian player there was. He prevailed. Despite significant rating gaps he lead Indonesian team to successfully beat their guests. ROW players, especially Erik van den Doel and Darryl Johansen, seemed not ready for tough battle and played with vacation mode on.

Nigel Short lived up his reputation as an ex World Champion Challenger by beating the host player Utut Adianto 4.5-1.5. Adianto defeat was largely attributed to the holes of his repertoire as black player. Adianto had no answer to Advance variation of Caro-Kann defense played by Short. Adianto lost twice and escaped with draw once with black pieces.

The tournament was the open version of Japfa Classic Chess Tournament held several days earlier at the same city. Indonesian players failed to win this event. Four overseas players were in pole positions: Damien Sadvakasov, Nordmund Miezis, Buenaventura Villamayor, and Jaan Ehlvest.