8 Facts about Irene Sukandar, an accomplished female chess player who caught attention and successfully defeated Dewa Kipas

Irene Kharisma Sukandar, or commonly known as Irene Sukandar, successfully defeated Dadang Subur, also known as Dewa Kipas, in a chess match held by Deddy Corbuzier. She scored 3 consecutive wins.

The world of chess is not new to Irene. This woman, born on April 7, 1992, has been familiar with the sport of brain training since she used to accompany her older sister to chess school at the age of 8.

Her father, who realized Irene's talent, registered her at Utut Adianto Chess School. There, she trained seriously for four hours from Monday to Friday.

Irene's hard work paid off, as she won her first championship title when she was still in the fourth grade of elementary school.

Not stopping there, in the following years, Irene began to win chess competitions at the Asian and world levels, including the ASEAN Chess Championship in Malaysia 2003, winning a silver medal at the SEA Games Vietnam 2003, and the Chess Olympiad in Spain 2003.

Name Irene has been increasingly recognized since becoming the first female chess player in Indonesia to earn the title of Woman Grandmaster in 2008 and International Master in 2014. Irene's FIDE rating reached 2413 in 2021.

Reported by Kompas, not only did Irene compete officially, but she was also often invited by her father to play against adult chess players when she was still young. Her father often invited local chess players to compete with Irene at their home.

According to Irene's confession, it was from playing at the local chess scene that she gained experiences that she couldn't get from any chess books. This includes strategies to recognize various characters and train her mental strength after playing against older opponents.