Dreev wins Indonesia Open 2013

10/17/2013 – A total of 108 participants, including 38 GMs, 21 IMs and lots of other titled players, made their way to Jakarta– in spite of a busy 11-round schedule, sometimes with two rounds per day, and no rest day. The prizes were great: US $100,000 total. In the final rounds Russian GM Aleksey Dreev kept his cool and took first place ($20,000) a point ahead of the field. Pictures and inverviews.


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The 3rd Indonesia Open Chess Championship took place from 9-18th October at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta. The Championship was open for all chess players from federations member of FIDE with Elo Rating minimum 2200. The number of participants is limited only to (approximately) 150 players. Registration is closing on 1st October 2013.

The tournament, an eleven-round Swiss with a time control of 90 minutes with 30 seconds increment for every move, was organized by the Indonesian Chess Federation and offers US $100,000 in prizes. First prize was $20,000, second was $10,000, etc., down to 41st–50th at $500. Women's prizes were 1st $3,000 USD, 2nd $ 2,000, etc. The best junior (born on 1st January 1993 and after) got $2,000, the 2nd $1,500, etc.

We published a report earlier this week, after round three, with some of the photos and interviews given below. For technical reasons the report was deleted, so we reuse part of the material here.

Young girls provide a musical interlude at the opening ceremony

Participant Elisabeth Pähtz taking pictures (left: Antoaneta Stefanova)

The round is under way in the Puri Ratna Ballroom of the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel

What it feels like to play a very strong GM: IM Rolando Nolte, 2447, vs Nigel Short, 2684 (0-1).
On the right GM Sang Cao, 2485, who lost to Alexander Moiseenko, 2703.

Round five game between Dreev and Ivanisevic ended 1-0 in 56 moves

A key game was in round nine, with top seed GM Alexander Moiseenko (6/8) playing GM Alexey Dreev (6.5/8). It was an engrossing struggle where in the end Moiseenko's extra pawn could not make the difference.

[Event "Indonesia Open 2013"] [Site "Jakarta INA"] [Date "2013.10.16"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Moiseenko, Alexander"] [Black "Dreev, Aleksey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2703"] [BlackElo "2679"] [PlyCount "170"] [EventDate "2013.10.10"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rc2 b6 11. Bd3 Ba6 12. O-O Bxd3 13. Qxd3 O-O 14. Rb1 Rfe8 15. Bh4 Rac8 16. c4 Bd6 17. Ng5 Qf5 18. Qxf5 exf5 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 c5 21. Nf3 Nf6 22. Kf1 Ne4 23. d5 Nd6 24. Ke2 f6 25. Nd2 Kf7 26. a4 Rb8 27. Rcb2 Rb7 28. Kd3 Ke7 29. Ra1 Reb8 30. Rab1 Kd7 31. e4 fxe4+ 32. Nxe4 Nxe4 33. Kxe4 Re8+ 34. Kd3 Rbb8 35. a5 Kc7 36. axb6+ axb6 37. Ra2 Rb7 38. g4 Kd6 39. Ra6 Kc7 40. Rba1 Kd6 41. Ra7 Reb8 42. R7a6 Re8 43. g3 Kd7 44. Ra7 Reb8 45. Kc3 Kd6 46. Rxb7 Rxb7 47. Ra6 Kd7 48. f4 Ke7 49. Kb3 b5 50. cxb5 Rxb5+ 51. Kc4 Rb1 52. Kxc5 Rc1+ 53. Kd4 Rd1+ 54. Ke4 Re1+ 55. Kd4 Rd1+ 56. Ke4 Re1+ 57. Kf3 Rf1+ 58. Ke2 Rh1 59. Ra7+ Kd6 60. Rxg7 Kxd5 61. Kf3 Rh2 62. Re7 Kd6 63. Re2 Rxe2 64. Kxe2 h6 65. Kf3 Ke7 66. Ke3 Kd7 67. Kd3 Ke7 68. Kc3 Kd7 69. Kd3 Ke7 70. Kc4 Ke6 71. Kd4 Kd6 72. Ke4 Ke6 73. Kf3 Ke7 74. Kg2 Kf7 75. Kh3 Kg7 76. Kh2 Kf7 77. Kg1 Ke6 78. Kf2 Kf7 79. Ke3 Ke7 80. Kf3 Kf7 81. Kg2 Ke7 82. f5 Kd6 83. Kh3 Ke7 84. Kh2 Kd6 85. Kh3 Ke7 1/2-1/2

Before the final round Aleksey Dreev was leading with 8.0/10 points, with Alexander Moiseenko in the challenge position with 7.5/10. In round ten Moiseenko had to play Nigel Short, who was at 6.5/10. This is what transpired:

[Event "Indonesia Open 2013"] [Site "Jakarta INA"] [Date "2013.10.17"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Short, Nigel D"] [Black "Moiseenko, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2703"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2013.10.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. b3 d6 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 6. d3 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O d5 10. Qe1 d4 11. Qh4 e5 12. fxe5 Nh5 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Nbd2 Nxe5 15. a4 Nf4 16. Nc4 Nxf3+ 17. Rxf3 Ne6 18. Bc1 b6 19. Bd2 Rab8 20. Be1 a6 21. Bg3 Rb7 22. h3 f6 23. Bh4 Rf8 24. a5 b5 25. Nb6 g5 26. Bg3 Kf7 27. Rf5 Rd8 28. Raf1 Kg6 29. Nd5 Rf8 30. Bd6 Rff7 31. e5 fxe5 32. Rxf7 Rxf7 33. Ne7+ Rxe7 34. Bxe7 h5 35. Kf2 Bf6 36. Bxf6 Kxf6 37. g3 h4 38. gxh4 gxh4 39. Rg1 Ng5 40. Rg4 Nxh3+ 41. Kf1 Nf4 42. Rxh4 Kg5 43. Rh8 Nd5 44. Ke1 Nb4 45. Kd1 Kf6 46. Rc8 Ke6 47. Rxc5 Kd6 48. Rc8 Nc6 49. Ra8 Nxa5 50. Rxa6+ Nc6 51. Kd2 Kc5 52. Ra8 Nb4 53. Rc8+ Kd6 54. Ke2 Nd5 55. Kf3 Nc3 56. Rxc3 dxc3 57. Ke4 b4 58. d4 exd4 59. Kxd4 Ke6 60. Kc4 Ke5 61. Kxb4 Kd4 62. Ka4 Ke3 63. b4 1-0

This left the Ukrainian GM Moiseenko (above) in an equal second place with eight
other players, and Aleksey Dreev alone in first, a full point ahead of the field

Top final standings (after eleven rounds)

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 3 GM Dreev Aleksey RUS 2679 8.5 0.0 69.0 63.0
2 1 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2703 7.5 0.0 72.5 66.0
3 2 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2684 7.5 0.0 71.0 65.0
4 5 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2639 7.5 0.0 68.0 62.0
5 23 GM Malakhatko Vadim BEL 2519 7.5 0.0 66.5 61.5
6 10 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2593 7.5 0.0 66.0 60.5
7 22 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2527 7.5 0.0 65.0 60.5
8 21 GM Gopal G N IND 2527 7.5 0.0 65.0 59.0
9 18 GM Shyam Sundar M IND 2536 7.5 0.0 63.5 58.0
10 26 GM Dao Thien Hai VIE 2500 7.5 0.0 60.0 55.5
11 16 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2565 7.0 0.0 66.5 62.0
12 6 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2636 7.0 0.0 66.5 60.5
13 27 GM Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan MGL 2500 7.0 0.0 64.0 59.0
14 17 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan IRI 2556 7.0 0.0 62.5 58.0
15 11 GM Ehlvest Jaan USA 2578 7.0 0.0 62.5 57.0
16 31 IM Nguyen Duc Hoa VIE 2486 7.0 0.0 62.0 57.5
17 19 GM Batchuluun Tsegmed MGL 2529 7.0 0.0 61.0 56.5
18 20 GM Megaranto Susanto INA 2528 7.0 0.0 61.0 56.5
19 12 GM Grigoryan Avetik ARM 2577 7.0 0.0 59.5 54.5
20 36 IM Khamrakulov Djurabek UZB 2442 7.0 0.0 56.5 52.0
21 56 GM Ardiansyah H INA 2368 7.0 0.0 55.5 52.0
22 4 GM Iturrizaga Eduardo VEN 2658 6.5 0.0 70.0 64.0
23 29 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2496 6.5 0.0 67.0 61.5
24 32 GM Cao Sang VIE 2485 6.5 0.0 66.0 61.0
25 28 GM Laylo Darwin PHI 2497 6.5 0.0 65.5 61.0
26 30 GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2495 6.5 0.0 65.5 59.5
27 8 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2629 6.5 0.0 63.5 58.5
28 14 GM Barbosa Oliver PHI 2567 6.5 0.0 62.5 57.5
29 37 IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2440 6.5 0.0 61.5 57.0
30 41 GM Cherniaev Alexander RUS 2415 6.5 0.0 58.0 53.5

Interview with the winner Aleksey Dreev

What was your target at IOCC?

Aleksey Dreev: I wanted to play well.

You are known as a player with just one opening.

Is that true? No. I just happen to play the same openings a lot but not just one variation alone. I play different opening variations.

After IOCC, are you playing any other tournaments?

I will play in the European Chess Club Cup 2013 held in Rhode Island, Greece from 19-27 October. So from Jakarta, I am going straight there to represent my club. After that I will return to Russia. We have already prepared our team.

There will be a World Chess Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen next month. What is your prediction?

Anand is motivated and Carlsen is also very strong. Both are great players and have

How do you find Indonesia?

I have been to Indonesia before. So I would like to see many things and gone to interesting places. But now I have been unable to because there is no time so I have spent all my time in the hotel. Maybe next time I will have the chance.

Interview with Nigel Short

Nigel Short, currently rated 2684, is a well travelled globe trotting Englishman and a frequent visitor to Asia, who is in Indonesia for the third time. So what are the impressions of this still young 48-year-old grandmaster? He answered questions by the bulletin team.

What do you think is the level of IOCC?


You are one of the favourites to win IOCC. Do you think playing double rounds some days will be difficult for you? We understand Europeans are more used to single rounds.

Not just European players have difficulty with double rounds. All chessplayers, whether from Africa, Asia or America and we all have the same problem but many open tournaments today have double rounds so we have to accept this. I will say that the World Champions, the elite like Magnus Carlsen, Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, would never do this. In my view, if there are going to be double rounds then perhaps a fair compromise is to have nine rounds and not eleven, as the physical demands on participants will be significantly less. But don't misunderstand, I am happy to be here and taking part in IOCC.

What are your impressions of chess in Indonesia?

I know that chess is developing well in Indonesia with many young players but in my opinion the potential of Indonesia chessplayers is yet to be fully exploited as there are many talents who should be doing much better. IOCC is the grand centrepiece but Indonesian chess also needs to have variety to better cater for all, including having more trainers and many more international tournaments. This is a vast country with a love for chess so there is no reason not to be able to have world beaters.

There will be a major challenge to the current FIDE leadership in the elections next year. So what are your thoughts?

I think it should be time for change after eighteen long years so it might be best for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to gracefully step down and make way for new leadership.

Interview with Antoaneta Stefanova

GM Antoaneta Stefanova has a rating of 2496, which ranks her first amongst the many women playing in IOCC 2013. The 34-year-old Bulgarian native is a former women's world champion, who last year was again a finalist but the unlucky loser against Ukrainian surprise winner Anna Ushenina.

Stefanova: This is my third time in Indonesia. I like Indonesia and always feel privileged to play in tournaments here so this benefit is continuing. I also really like the people here. This tournament is very strong and interesting because there are many very good players participating.

Bulletin Team: What then would you hope to achieve here?


Are you feeling jet lag?


What do you feel about playing two games a day?

This is going to be a problem for me because I am not used to this at all. But I hope I can manage. Unfortunately there is no free day for recovery as well and it would have been nice to be able to see a bit of Jakarta. I do hope in future the organisers would consider single rounds and a rest day in line with tournaments of equal standing in the world, so that IOCC will be considered to be among the best if not the very best.

What are your aspirations regarding the world championships?

I always play to be the best I can be, but I also understand that with every year there are more and more very strong young players emerging. Last year I was still able to be a World Champion – in Rapid chess. This year I have not been at my best and hope that I will do better next year.

What are you physical and technical preparations before a tournament?


Next year we have a FIDE Election. If you could, who would you vote for?




Here are some of the Indonesian (and a few other) female chess talents:

WIM Chelsie Monica Sihite, Indonesia, rated 2267

WGM Irine Kharisma Sukandar, Indonesia, rated 2363

WIM Warda Aulia Medina, Indonesia, rated 2319

WFM Aa Citra Dewi, Indonesia, rated 2133

Top female player with 6.5/11: IM Elisabeth Pähtz, 2440, Germany

IM Sophie Milliet, France, rated 2399

IM Eesha Karavade, India, rated 2400

Photos by bulletin team




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