Indonesian WGM Sukandar pity for missing Olympiad

(English.news.cn)
Updated: 2012-07-13

Newly crowned Asian champion Irine Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia said she was sad about missing out Olympiad due to federation arrangement here on July 12.

"It's really a surprise to know that I can't play in Olympiad," said the 20-year-old Woman Grand Master (WGM) after she beat Zhang Xiaowen in Chinese Chess League Division A to help her team Tianjin seal a 3-2 victory against the league leader Shanghai in the eighth round.

One day after this year's 40th Chess Olympiad, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from August 27 to September 10, Indonesia will hold its national games, where Sukandar is expected to win a gold.

"I tried to convince federation leaders that I can overcome the adjustments from Olympiad to the national games, that my body can undertake the pressure well enough, but they just didn't buy it," said the top Indonesian chess player.

Sukandar's first appearance in Olympiad dated back to 2004, where she captured her Woman FIDE Master (WF) title as a 12-year-old who learnt chess for merely five years.

After her success in Spain Olympiad, Sukandar cruised on to pocket her last norms of both Woman International Master (WIM) and Woman Grand Master (WGM) in 2006 and 2008. Now her next goal is to surge her rating above 2,400 to get International Master(IM) title.

"The Chinese League is the strongest one in Asia and one of the best in the world. So it's an honour to play chess here against the best players to improve myself," said Sukandar who stunned Chinese top players including Grand Master (GM) Zhao Xue to win her Asian champion in May.