IndonesiaBase

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.

Originally GM Vassily Smyslov of Russia was the player who would play GM Utut Adianto. Unfortunately the ex-World Champion could not make to Jakarta because of health reasons. In less than a week the organiser had to find a substitute. In such sort notice GM Yasser Seirawan of USA kindly agreed to play Utut.

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.

Twenty four cities from seventeen countries participated in this event. Total players was 116 with 18 GMs, 2 WGMs, 11 IMs, and 1 WIM. GM Wesley Barbasa So (2667), GM Yu Yangyi (2652), GM Lǐ Chāo (2646), GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2618), and GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2606) were the top rated players.

The tournament was jam packed with seven 2600+ GMs out of ten participants. Top flight GMs like Michał Krasenkow, Mikhail Gurevich, and Ivan Sokolov were on the list. Veteran GM Lajos Portisch won the event without playing in full gear. He was a full point ahead of the runner-ups, GM Utut Adianto, GM Eugenio Torre, and GM Krasenkow.

The last round’s top five boards featured GM Torre-GM Đào, GM Barus-IM Sadikin, IM Purnama-GM Gagunashvili, GM Barua-IM Liu, and GM Megaranto-Andika. Barus, Gagunashvili, Liu, and Megaranto trounced their opponents while Torre made peace with Đào. The results handed the cup to GM Cerdas Barus from Indonesia.

The first half, rounds of 1-12, of Karpov-Timman match was held in Netherlands. The second half was originally planned in Oman but the country withdrew the offer. Until the last game in Netherlands no one was sure should the match be finished. Luckily for FIDE, Indonesia came up as a saviour to organise the second half of the match.