JAPFA in Jakarta (2/2)

The tournament banners

Opening ceremony, with all the officials

From left to right: Ign. Herry Wibowo (JAPFA), Imam Nahrawi (Sports Minister), Mr. Hamidi
(National Sports Committee of Indonesia), GM Utut Adianto (Indonesian Parliament)

The first move

The local fans and organizers alike had yet another reason to be proud, as their hopes and expectations paid off: Medina Warda Aulia scored her second IM norm, too!

Getting acquainted with the Indonesian culture - respect to the elderly...yes, I am not 18 anymore.

Sergey Tiviakov

Winning with opposite colored bishops

Classic tactic

I highly doubt that Winshand's and Medina's success should be based on...lack of jet lag. It has more to do with their hard work and the traditional chess culture, which is mind blowing in Jakarta. I was, once again, in total cultural shock! I knew from two years ago that parks are full of chess players, that squares become improvised tournament halls at night but what I didn't know was that chess is actually really, truly, genuinely perceived as being “cool” and the chess player even “cooler”!

Sean Winshand Cuhendi

No doubt that the Indonesian media was all over the JAPFA GM event, which doesn't happen often in other countries. In Jakarta, the press conference prior to the tournament for example, gathered as many journalists as the room could hold.

A good start

Sophie Millet facing the future champion

GM Gopal GN

The other factor that opened my eyes this time was the traffic. Yes, the horrendous traffic, a giant octopus with proportions out of this world. One can hardly imagine the chaos on the streets, particularly in rush hour, when Jakarta turns into a madhouse. It was quite an experience to move around this jumble of cars, scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, people, cats, vendors, where you can find whatever your mind could think of: food, shoes, sewing machines, gasoline, drinks etc.

Nguyen Anh Dung

A model game

I felt I had to use my front eyes, as well as those in the back of my head and also produce new ones on the sides (humanity is a versatile species, indeed), otherwise I was bound to fall in the nearest pit or bump into someone or something. At least this was my initial impression, when I was rather scared to cross a street, feeling like a frog from these computer games, when you had to move from A to B without getting crushed.

Sophie Milliet

Medina Warda Aulia

Although my fears were somewhat justified, I was surprised to discover the logic in this mayhem! It was not the jungle rules but the...polite, calm and peaceful way to proceed in this craziness. I never thought it was possible, therefore I mumbled once: “What a waste of time with this traffic, how do people live their lives?!” - and got puzzled looks back, which made me realize I was the one in need of a fix... I was the one who needed to learn to “let it be”.

Irene Sukandar

Student beats teacher

The locals have long accustomed themselves with the streets' congestion, so instead of becoming nervous and angry they choose to talk to each other and to polish their sense of humour. This is helped by the fact that during rush hour a car must have a minimum of three people on board. Yes, the people in Jakarta are happy fellows, even though sometimes circumstances would entitle them to feel or behave differently.

Farid Firman Syah

Creative tactics

Your favourite Romanian: Alina L'Ami

Throwing away points

Purnama Tirta Chandra

Ali Muhammad Lutfi

Instead, they choose to live the moment and smile the stress away. A small sample would be through babies' names. If Alina is a rather common one, a more original choice would be “Wildan”. And even more original is the way the parents pronounce it, smiling at the thought that yes, indeed, their boy is much more than 'well done'! Another creative example is Mr. Wrong's, who was pondering upon naming his child “Something” - I just love these people!

Antonio Rogelio Jr

If ever in doubt with my chess skills, I will remember the Javanese wisdom in counting on good fortune and thinking positively: “Ada air, ada ikan” - where there is water, there is fish. Even in the water of a coconut...

Hard workers! - behind the scenes

Javanese dances during closing ceremony

The happy winner!

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN You can use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.