Chess body wants to popularize the games<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Chess Association wants to
\nincrease the popularity of chess.<\/p>\n
"Although chess is already popular in the community I want
\nthis brain sport be more popular. Chess is known only in big
\ncities and is not so popular in the villages," Cholid Ghozali
\nsaid during the opening of the upgrading course for sports
\njournalists in Cipayung, West Java, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ghozali said that in Russia chess was one of the most popular
\nsports.<\/p>\n
He said most of the top chess players come from Russia because
\ngood players there could make money out of it.<\/p>\n
"In Russia, the teaching of chess starts from 10-years old and
\nthey are provided with good facilities. Discipline in chess is
\nvery strict in Russia and this applies to all players including
\ngrandmasters," Ghozali said.<\/p>\n
Ghozali said Indonesia had potentially good players but that
\nthey lack discipline and facilities.<\/p>\n
"If only discipline is applied, I am optimistic we can produce
\nmore grandmasters to replace their elders," he said.<\/p>\n
The association's secretary, Jamal Jamil, said Wednesday
\nthat discipline was now being applied to young Indonesian chess
\nplayers.<\/p>\n
"We are now applying strict discipline as many young players
\nlack this and often skip classes which later leads to negligence
\nin studying the sport. In Russia, discipline is so strict that
\nsanctions are given to those who skip any part of the courses,"
\nJamal said.<\/p>\n
Ghozali said one way to popularize chess was to provide
\naccurate news which benefits not only chess enthusiasts but the
\ngeneral public too.<\/p>\n
"What I mean by accurate news is the correct reporting of
\ncompetitions. I have observed that there are many mistakes such
\nas the wrong moves being reported, and this puzzles the readers,"
\nGhozali said.<\/p>\n
The three-day upgrading course was attended by 24 journalists
\nfrom the print and electronic media. The journalists were given
\nintensive training by chess experts Jamal, Harry Djauhari, Mukmin
\nPenggabean and Hendry Jamal.<\/p>\n
All the experts are national masters and international
\nreferees.<\/p>\n
The course closed on Thursday with a five-session tournament
\namong the journalists.<\/p>\n
Bad experience<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Grandmaster Utut Adianto spoke of his troubles at a
\nrecent tournament in Argentina.<\/p>\n
He said his loss in the tournament was motivation for him to
\nimprove.<\/p>\n
"I only had four points and I lost because I lost confidence.
\nNevertheless, this loss does not dismay make me. I will study
\nharder and hopefully regain my confidence," Utut said.<\/p>\n
His loss in Argentina cost him five points off his 2,615 elo
\nrating.<\/p>\n
Utut said to become a good chess player, one should learn from
\nlosses, not only from victory.<\/p>\n
"I lost confidence because I had to play for up to five hours.
\nNow I want to relax first and prepare thoroughly for the coming
\ntournaments." (lnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chess-body-wants-to-popularize-the-games-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}