Irene closes on men’s chess title, RI team rank plunges
Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Tue, 10/05/2010 1:18 PM Sports

Indonesian Woman Grandmaster Irene Kharisma Sukandar edged closer on Sunday to her goal to win a men’s International Master title, as the 18-year-old university student collected significant points to add to her current 2372 rating at the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Irene collected the points after 11 rounds at the event, which ended Sunday. Her latest rating was not immediately available.

A chess player must collect a 2400 rating to earn an International Master title.

The Indonesian team stumbled behind Irene’s strong showing. The men’s team plunged to 67th from 52nd place at the last Olympiad two years ago in Dresden, Germany, and the women’s team declined to 43rd from a previous 42nd.

In general standings, China topped Asian teams with a fifth-place showing, followed by India in 18th, Kazakhstan in 27th, Iran in 29th, the Philippines in 50th, Vietnam in 52nd, Singapore in 58th and Pakistan in 62nd.

In the women’s standings, China also dominated in second place, followed by India in 17th, Vietnam in 18th, Iran in 19th, Kazakhstan in 29th and Uzbekistan in 30th.

The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) praised the stable performances of the country’s two ace Woman Grandmasters, Irene Kharisma Sukandar and Susanto Megaranto and their strengths in advance of the Asian Games.

Here is the full article.

Posted by Picasa
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tags: , ,