Saturday 24 November 2012

Catching up...

Hi everyone!


Again it's been months since I wrote my last post. Yeah, I'm such a bad blogger and this may be not my thing hence the infrequent updates that I have on my blog. Alright fellas, so my post right now won't be entirely about chess -though it'll still be the main topic- but also about the related stuffs. Bear with me!


In August, during the school break, I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to play a rapid chess festival. In the individual section I managed to score 7,5/11, defeated my good friend, Jimson Bitoon, in the last round and ruined his chance to get the best challenger prize (the prize for unrated player) while I was aiming the best lady's prize myself. Jimson, if you see this, please accept my belated apology :P You can see full results here. And in the team event, I had thrown myself in the ocean of Filipino players, confused? Well, though the event was held in Malaysia, but Filipino dominated the fields by both quantities and qualities from its players. I got teamed up with 3 Filipinos and 1 Malaysian as a reserve. Our team, Mastermind, took the 5th placed out of 66 teams! Another good friend of mine who got his first IM norm in the last Olympiad in Turkey, FM Lim Zhuo-Ren, won the Best Malaysian prize *claps* Full details of the tournament can be seen here.


As September began, I had to watch all the good players around the world competing each other just from home. Yes, many of you have known that I skipped the Olympiad this year. The reason? Uhm it's a bit complicated but let me try to make it simple. I had signed a contract to play in the National Olympics which dates, later on figured, were too close to the Olympiad. The event was such a grandiose one involving all the provinces in Indonesia, and chess was one of the games (sports?) that was being contested. And the officials of my province forbid me to play in order to keep me well-focused on the event. To make the story short, all was paid off, I won 2 golds in the National Olympics ;) Oh back to the Olympiad, the Indonesian girls did very well without my presence. They got 24th placed and won the Group C! For individual performances, we have Chelsie Monica Sihite who successfully obtained her first WGM norm and Medina Warda Aulia accomplished her WIM title in the very same event. Bravo!


Uni started in the late of September but it wasn't the cause of the bad ending of the month for me which ,sadly, continued till the beginning of October. It affected my health, assumingly, where unfortunately I had to play the 5th leg of Chinese League in Hangzhou City (Oct 6-9), scoring 1,5/4 and losing 11 ELO points :( As soon as the leg finished, I had to travel back to Jakarta because another event was about to start. It was the 2nd Indonesia Open. The whole details about the tournament -such as results, photos, interviews, etc- can be checked on Chessdom. I did considerably well here though was scoring 4/9 only, despite of it I had a chance to play with 5 GMs out of 9 rounds! :)


The rest of October till present has been dull. Uni's assignments, presentations, and assessments have been quite time-consuming. And to be honest, I'm feeling a bit rusty of chess. My next chess event will be on December 16th - 22nd, it's a friendship match with France. So 4 of us: Medina, Chelsie, Citra and myself will play against 4 top French women, namely: IM Sophie Milliet, WGM Nino Maisuradze, WIM Natacha Benmesbah, and WIM Mathilde Congiu. Sounds fun right! The match will be in Scheveningen system of blitz, rapid, and classical games. The total prize US$11.000 will be at stake. I'm gonna update more about it on my Facebook later.


And soon after Christmas, I will fly to Australia to play the Australian Open. Will have some days off before and after it. Yayy, holidays! :D Really looking forward to going there again :)


That's all for now, pray I'll blog more :P


Laterz!

Thursday 2 August 2012

Belated Summary of the 2012 Asian Continental

Dear readers,

First of all I want to apologize for neglecting my own blog. It's been more than 3 months since I posted the last entry here. A good 3-months actually which is worthy enough to share, especially about my chess life. So after my bad performance in Australia last April that fairly took much of my rating away, I've made a good comeback in the following month by winning the 11th Asian Continental that was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on May 4th-13th, securing a place in the 2014 Women's World Championship, and becoming the first Indonesian female to compete in such a glorious event. I would like to happily announce here that it was my highest achievement in chess so far. To top the Continent among those giant players from the notably strongest countries in Asia, namely China and India, is merely one's blessing that one could only wish for. Going there as the 19th seeded with a 2288 elo rating was simply removing my name from the favorite list. Being a 2300ish player for the last 4-5 years and suddenly dropping to 2288 was not that easy for me to accept. I wrote about it once as my status on Facebook that in order to jump higher, you have to bend your knees first which received a lot of positive comments to encourage me to get over the sadness and wishing me to do well in the very next event. And eventually yes, things turned to be good for me, psychologically, when I changed my mindset that to be an underdog was actually an advantage in such a situation and resulted in a lighter feeling during the games against much higher-rated opponents in Vietnam. That made me think that to have lost lots of rating in Australia was not a bad idea at all, but of course I didn't purposefully do it :)




What a fool I would be if I forget to name those who have helped me to go through the process. Therefore, I can proudly say that I'm so thankful to have a family like my own right now that never get tired of motivating me in all things. Papa, Mama, and my siblings: Kaisar and Diajeng, I love you all so dearly! :)

And to my closest ones: Junta, Lucy, Wei Ming, Gladys, and some others that are too many to mention here - for morally and technically helping and supporting me both in life and chess, and for just being there for me, thank you! :)




And now readers, please do enjoy the game that I selected to be annotated by myself from the aforementioned tournament.



Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.
NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 nwwew-weKrtg+/-
1
WGMSukandar Irine KharismaINA22887.00.0241347.5973.653.351550.3
2
WGMGomes Mary AnnIND23786.50.0235843.096.55.311.191517.9
3
WGMTan ZhongyiCHN24306.50.0234244.596.55.790.71107.1
4
WGMDing YixinCHN23536.50.0233944.596.55.211.291519.4
5

Wang JueCHN23646.50.0231343.096.55.411.091516.4
6
GMZhao XueCHN25496.00.0235844.5966.89-0.8910-8.9
7
WGMLe Thanh TuVIE23135.50.0235641.095.54.560.941514.1
8
IMKaravade EeshaIND23535.50.0234044.095.55.120.38103.8
9
WGMPadmini RoutIND23455.50.0226338.595.55.82-0.3215-4.8
10
WGMGuo QiCHN23605.50.0222134.095.56.59-1.0915-16.4
11
WGMNguyen Thi Thanh AnVIE23015.00.0238745.0954.160.841512.6
12
WIMNakhbayeva GuliskhanKAZ23095.00.0237939.0954.380.62159.3
13
IMMohota NishaIND23215.00.0236842.5954.550.45104.5
14
WIMYanjindulam DulamsurenMGL22145.00.0236238.5953.821.181517.7
15
IMMunguntuul BatkhuyagMGL24515.00.0235442.5955.99-0.9910-9.9
16
WFMZhai MoCHN22485.00.0233538.5954.350.65159.8
17
WGMPham Le Thao NguyenVIE23905.00.0232639.5955.54-0.5415-8.1
18
IMTania SachdevIND24175.00.0230837.0956.24-1.2410-12.4
19

Ni ShiqunCHN21575.00.0229933.5953.381.623048.6
20
WGMBatchimeg TuvshintugsMGL23635.00.0227038.5956.08-1.0815-16.2
21
WFMMedina Warda AuliaINA21725.00.0226031.0954.390.61159.1
22
WIMMuminova NafisaUZB23384.50.0233438.094.55.08-0.5815-8.7
23
WGMSwathi GhateIND22864.50.0232641.094.54.73-0.2315-3.5
24

Pratyusha BoddaIND21234.50.0227736.583.52.760.741511.1
25
WGMHoang Thi Bao TramVIE23564.00.0235241.0945.25-1.2515-18.8
26
WIMNguyen Quynh AnhVIE21294.00.0233139.0943.120.881513.2
27
WIMHoang Thi Nhu YVIE22384.00.0228538.0944.63-0.6315-9.4
28
WIMVo Thi Kim PhungVIE21554.00.0227633.5943.690.31154.7
29
WIMLe Kieu Thien KimVIE22394.00.0225336.0944.89-0.8915-13.4
30
WIMPham Bich NgocVIE21763.50.0232437.093.53.330.17152.5
31
WIMNguyen Thi Mai HungVIE22373.50.0227737.593.54.71-1.2115-18.1
32

Pham Thi Thu HoaiVIE19563.50.0225335.582.51.950.55158.3
33
WGMKiran Manisha MohantyIND22083.50.0222437.082.53.98-1.4815-22.2
34
WIMSihite Chelsie MonicaINA21813.50.0219533.593.55.21-1.7115-25.6
35
WFMDewi Aa CitraINA21123.50.0218231.082.53.76-1.2615-18.9
36
WFMEnkhtuul AltanulziiMGL21083.50.0217731.593.54.40-0.9015-13.5
37

Jelsen YemiINA20073.50.0217230.082.52.91-0.4115-6.2
38

Ngo Thi Kim TuyenVIE20703.01.0218632.5823.05-1.0515-15.8
39
WFMTon Nu Hong AnVIE19973.00.0208928.0823.50-1.5015-22.5
40

Virda Rizka AuliaINA17692.50.0224233.592.50.891.613048.3
41

Otorbaeva NurizaKGZ17402.00.0213027.0710.930.0700.0

Full results of Men's Section can be seen here : http://chess-results.com/tnr70397.aspx?art=1&rd=9&lan=1&flag=30

Thursday 26 April 2012

Experiencing 'The Land Down Under'


Another new country has been explored again, Australia!




About Australia

Australia is an island continent and the world's sixth largest country (7,682,300 sq km) after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil.. Lying between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the country is approximately 4,000 km from east to west and 3,200 km from north to south, with a coastline 36,735 km long or 10° and 39° South latitude. No wonder it's called The Land Down Under.

Australia is an independent Western democracy with a population of more than 22 million. It is one of the world’s most urbanised countries that makes Australian culture is as broad and varied as the country's landscape. Australia is multicultural and multiracial and this is reflected in the country's food, lifestyle and cultural practices and experience. Hmm.. thinking of moving? :)

Australia’s formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. The form of government used in Australia is a constitutional monarchy – ‘constitutional’ because the powers and procedures of the Australian Government are defined by a written constitution, and ‘monarchy’ because Australia’s head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 when six independent British colonies agreed to join together and become states of a new nation.

Australia has a developed modern market economy and has had one of the most outstanding economies of the world in recent years with high-growth, low-inflation and  low interest rates. Australia has enjoyed a high standard of living since the nineteenth century and is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquified natural gas and coal. It has made a comparatively large investment in social infrastructure, including education, training, health and transport. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is higher than that of New Zealand, US, Canada and The Netherlands.  The past performance of the Australian economy has been heavily influenced by US, Japanese and Chinese economic growth.

History

Australia's first inhabitants, the Aboriginal people, are believed to have migrated from some unknown point in Asia to Australia between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. While Captain James Cook is credited with Australia's European discovery in 1770, a Portuguese possibly first sighted the country, while the Dutch are known to have explored the coastal regions in the 1640s.

The first European settlement of Australia was in January 1788, when the First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip. Originally established as a penal colony, by the 1830s the number of free settlers was increasing. Transportation of convicts to the eastern colonies was abolished in 1852 and to the western colonies in 1868.

 

The 50th Doeberl Cup and Sydney International Open 2012

The Doeberl Cup has been held every year over Easter since 1963 and is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia. The tournament runs in 4 sections, with the top section known as the Doeberl Cup Premier. The Doeberl Cup was named after its primary sponsor, Erich Doeberl, and although it is no longer sponsored by his family, the name is still used to describe the tournament. The Doeberl Cup this year has won by GM Horvath Adam (2487) from Hungary with 7 points, tied first with 3 others: GM Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula (2553) from Romania, GM Vajda Levente (2597) from Hungary, and IM Rathnakaran K (2410) from India whom successfully achieved a GM norm in this tournament. Full results can be seen here.




The Sydney International Open was first held in 2007 and began right after Doeberl since then. Taking  place at the Town Hall, Paramatta, SIO has become one of the biggest tournaments in Australia each year. The event this year got a sole winner who shared the first place in 50th Doeberl Cup a week before that. See the results.


Great tournaments in a great country, but unfortunately the results didn't go well for me. I have convincingly lost 40 elo points at Doeberl and 13 at SIO. Adding my loss in Vietnam last month (-9) has made my live rating drop till 2287. Bad luck... Although my health was something that has to be blamed for, more or less. The flu symptoms that I had before the start of the tournament became worse as the tournament was on the run and could only recover by the day it finished.


That aside, I have gained everything else: experience, friends, and a new entry for my "Visited Countries" list. Look forward on coming back again!


Galleries:

the opening ceremony of the Doeberl Cup

the people behind the 50th Doeberl Cup

GM Horvath Adam, the winner of the tournament

IM Morris James, the winner of the annual 2012 Lightning tournament

WFM Megan Setiabudi, one of Australian best juniors



with Mr. Ambassador at Indonesian Embassy in Canberra

celebrating the end of my teenage years in a foreign land

one of the presents I got is... a banquet of flowers :)

with Derek, Moulthun, Alex, Jason, and Junta

in remembrance of the 2000 Olympiad in Sydney

Junta, me , and Moulthun at the Sydney Harbour

sightseeing after SIO... Sydney Aquarium!

to be honest, I don't know what kind of fish I'm looking at @_@

for all chocolate lovers, make sure you vist Max Brenner :)

at Sydney Opera House

old friend reunion, with Elsa Yueh in Melbourne

Wednesday 14 March 2012

The 2nd HDBank Open

I can't say much about this tournament which held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam other than my appearance was less maximum. Scoring only 4,5/9 and dropping 9 elo pts. Well, it happens. Sometimes you can play well, sometimes you play bad. Even so, many things can be learned from the games there which I hope can deepen my understanding in chess

After competing for 6 days (March 2nd-7th), GM Ni Hua from China (2637) finished in sole first place himself with 8 points with only spoiled in 2 draws. Followed by the first seeded from Vietnam GM Le Quang Liem (2698) and his compatriot GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2662) as the runner-up and third placer. 

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.
NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 nwwew-weKrtg+/-
1
GMNi HuaCHN26378.038.00.042.50986.431.5700.0
2
GMLe Quang LiemVIE26987.537.00.040.5097.57.010.4900.0
3
GMNguyen Ngoc Truong SonVIE26626.537.00.033.2596.57.14-0.6400.0
4

Wan YunguoCHN24416.536.50.032.2596.55.600.9000.0
5
IMNguyen Van HuyVIE24856.535.50.032.0096.55.550.9500.0
6
GMXiu DeshunCHN24926.535.00.031.0096.55.491.0100.0
7
GMTu Hoang ThongVIE24166.532.50.028.7596.55.830.6700.0
8
IMGao RuiCHN24176.038.50.031.00964.961.0400.0
9
IMLe Quang LongVIE23366.038.00.030.00963.502.5000.0
10
WGMPham Le Thao NguyenVIE23516.036.00.027.25964.301.7000.0
11
IMNguyen Duc HoaVIE24536.034.00.027.75965.480.5200.0
12
GMBarbosa OliverPHI25856.032.00.026.50855.82-0.8200.0
13
CMNguyen Hoang NamVIE23616.031.00.025.00965.200.8000.0
14
GMBui VinhVIE24636.030.00.025.25967.41-1.4100.0
15
GMCao SangVIE25265.541.50.030.0095.55.75-0.2500.0
16
GMParagua MarkPHI25195.540.50.030.0095.55.270.2300.0
17
GMLi ShilongCHN25495.538.50.028.7595.55.340.1600.0
18
FMBersamina PauloPHI21545.537.00.027.75852.622.3800.0
19
IMDuong The AnhVIE23735.536.00.025.2595.54.780.7200.0
20
IMNolte RolandoPHI24565.535.50.024.5084.54.85-0.3500.0
21
FMChan Yi Ren DanielSIN23425.535.50.023.7595.54.451.0500.0
22
GMDao Thien HaiVIE25165.535.00.026.7595.55.93-0.4300.0
23
IMDimakiling OliverPHI24475.534.50.024.0095.56.34-0.8400.0
24
GMTorre EugenioPHI25025.533.50.025.0095.56.15-0.6500.0
25
GMGopal Geetha NarayananIND25725.533.50.023.0095.56.84-1.3400.0
26

Ma ZhonghanCHN23695.532.00.023.75855.32-0.3200.0
27
IMSenador EmmanuelPHI23575.532.00.022.0084.54.88-0.3800.0
28
GMShanava KonstantineGEO25865.531.50.023.0095.57.09-1.5900.0
29
WGMNguyen Thi Thanh AnVIE22925.530.50.022.2584.54.290.2100.0
30
IMBao KhoaVIE22215.530.00.020.7595.53.991.5100.0
31

Nguyen Thien VietVIE22655.040.50.026.50952.632.3700.0
32
GMGomez John PaulPHI25125.040.00.025.50844.51-0.5100.0
33
IMTu Hoang ThaiVIE23275.034.00.022.50955.26-0.2600.0
34
IMGarcia Jan EmmanuelPHI24055.033.00.021.00844.80-0.8000.0
35
FMTran Tuan MinhVIE22495.031.00.020.00954.440.5600.0
36

Sean Winshand CuhendiINA20365.030.00.019.75952.042.9600.0
37
FMPham ChuongVIE23985.029.00.019.50956.65-1.6500.0
38
FMPham Duc ThangVIE22325.029.00.017.00843.940.0600.0
39
FMHoang Canh HuanVIE23964.538.50.022.2594.54.55-0.0500.0
40
WGMGu XiaobingCHN22574.536.50.021.5094.53.800.7000.0
41
IMDiu ViacheslavRUS24864.536.00.020.5094.55.91-1.4100.0
42

Vo Thanh NinhVIE23404.535.50.020.0094.55.28-0.7800.0
43
IMLy MoulthunAUS24024.535.00.019.7594.55.06-0.5600.0



Tran Quoc DungVIE22964.535.00.019.7583.52.910.5900.0
45

Olay Edgar ReggiePHI23614.534.50.020.0094.54.66-0.1600.0
46
WIMLe Kieu Thien KimVIE22304.534.00.019.0094.53.580.9200.0
47
FMNguyen Van HaiVIE23114.533.50.018.7594.54.68-0.1800.0
48

Tong Thai HungVIE21264.533.00.019.75842.601.4000.0
49
IMNguyen Huynh Minh HuyVIE24604.531.50.017.0094.56.14-1.6400.0
50

Legaspi RhobelPHI22734.530.50.016.2594.54.90-0.4000.0
51
CMTran Thanh TuVIE23004.530.00.014.5072.53.49-0.9900.0
52

Tan WeiliangSIN22674.528.50.016.5094.55.75-1.2500.0
53

Tran Ngoc LanVIE22014.528.50.014.7583.53.050.4500.0
54

Xu HanbingCHN23284.527.50.017.2594.56.19-1.6900.0
55
WGMSukandar Irine KharismaINA23494.527.00.015.2573.54.07-0.5700.0
56
FMLe Tuan MinhVIE21234.037.00.020.75942.391.6100.0
57

Yu ChaojieCHN04.035.00.018.0083



58
IMYang KaiqiCHN23604.033.50.018.00844.82-0.8200.0
59

Tran Ngoc ThachVIE22124.033.50.017.00944.11-0.1100.0
60

Eng Andre JeromeSIN22454.032.50.014.25944.56-0.5600.0
61
WIMGong QianyunCHN23024.031.00.016.50834.69-1.6900.0
62

Nguyen Sy HungVIE20434.030.50.013.00722.41-0.4100.0
63

Tran Quang KhaiVIE20254.029.00.014.2583.52.271.2300.0
64

Nguyen Huynh Tuan HaiVIE17904.028.00.014.25941.302.7000.0
65
IMTon That Nhu TungVIE21774.027.50.012.25944.97-0.9700.0
66

Aron Teh Eu WenMAS19004.027.50.012.00831.311.6900.0
67
CMLe Thanh TaiVIE18894.027.00.013.00841.852.1500.0
68
CMNguyen Van Toan ThanhVIE19404.026.50.011.25942.331.6700.0
69

Dong ZhaoruiCHN04.025.50.014.2583.5



70
WFMLe Hoang Tran ChauVIE20933.532.50.012.7593.53.300.2000.0
71
IMVasilyev MikhailUKR22703.532.00.011.7583.53.76-0.2600.0
72

Pham Thi Thu HienVIE21163.531.50.013.50833.71-0.7100.0
73

Nguyen Minh TuanVIE21263.531.50.012.5093.52.371.1300.0
74

Cox Tristan AENG20963.531.00.013.0093.53.370.1300.0
75
WIMPham Bich NgocVIE21553.528.50.012.0082.53.66-1.1600.0
76
WFMVu Thi Dieu AiVIE18333.528.00.010.75831.551.4500.0
77
WFMTon Nu Hong AnVIE19873.527.50.08.2571.52.17-0.6700.0
78

Nguyen Hoang AnhVIE19243.523.00.08.5082.52.280.2200.0
79
WIMNguyen Thi Mai HungVIE22593.034.00.015.75934.60-1.6000.0
80
CMNguyen Tan Hoang NamVIE18103.027.01.09.00931.331.6700.0
81
FMIkeda JuntaAUS23733.027.00.08.50825.82-3.8200.0
82

Do Thi ThuongVIE20913.026.50.08.50934.98-1.9800.0
83

Nguyen Dang Hong PhucVIE17653.025.50.07.7582.51.331.1700.0
84

Li WenxiangCHN03.024.50.08.0082



85

Doan Thi Van AnhVIE19923.024.00.06.00823.39-1.3900.0
86

Vinod GopalIND20443.022.50.05.25611.78-0.7800.0
87

Wolfaardt FrancoisRSA17833.022.00.07.00721.270.7300.0
88

Aplin Christer JonSIN20552.528.50.010.2581.53.26-1.7600.0
89

Gao HanxueCHN02.525.50.08.5071



90

Kuich GeroSUI18552.521.00.05.75711.98-0.9800.0
91

Chung Juen SenSIN19932.520.50.04.0070.53.49-2.9900.0
92

Frost PeterAUS18972.021.50.04.2560.52.09-1.5900.0
93

Fu JinghaoCHN02.019.50.03.2581










I also annotated 2 of my games which published on Singapore Chess News, you can check it out here 

Galleries:

All the participants of the tournament
Indonesian representatives: Sean Winshand and I
with WIM Qianyun Gong and WGM Xiaobing Gu
At a sushi buffet after the tournament. With Junta, Weiliang, Sean, Moulthun and Duc
....and ended with watching the sunrise on the last day