Chess prodigy goes to Greece before SEAG<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Eleven-year-old Irene Kharisma Sukandar will take on a timely,
\npotentially testing warm-up field ahead of the upcoming Southeast
\nAsian (SEA) Games when she takes part in the 2003 World Youth
\nChess Championships in Greece.<\/p>\n
Irene is the youngest member of the Indonesian sporting
\ndelegation to the SEA Games in December, and her Greek run should
\nprovide her with a test of her skills prior to her departure to
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
The championships, which offer competitions in the U-10, U-12,
\nU-14, U-16 and U-18 boys and girls categories, will be held from
\nOct. 23 through Nov. 2 at the Athos Palace and Pallini Beach
\nHotels in the holiday resort of Kallithea, Halkidiki.<\/p>\n
Irene, twice national champion in her age category, will
\ncompete in the U-12. The team is optimistic she could finish
\nwithin the top ten.<\/p>\n
"Irene is currently the strongest (girls' junior) player we
\nhave. We are optimistic she can take a top ten place in Greece,"
\nteam manager Eka Putra Wirya said when contacted by The Jakarta
\nPost here on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Kristianus Liem, the director of the Utut Adianto Chess
\nSchool, where Irene has trained, said that they had imposed an
\nintensive training regime on the protege for two weeks.<\/p>\n
"In the last three days, she was trained by Utut (Adianto)
\nhimself," Kristianus said. Utut is Indonesia's number one chess
\ngrand master, and will represent Indonesia at the World
\nChampionships in the Netherlands in November.<\/p>\n
"The training with Utut aimed more at developing her mental
\nattitude. She should now be well-prepared for the tournament,"
\nKristianus said.<\/p>\n
From the tournament website, the U-12 girls' competition lists
\n91 players, including Chinese Tan Zhongyi, last year's winner and
\n2001 winner in the U-10 category.<\/p>\n
The tournament, which will be played over 11 rounds, sees an
\noverall 593 players in the boys' and 404 players in the girls'
\ncategory, from 79 countries.<\/p>\n
In last year's tournament, also in Greece, Andrean
\nSusilodinata, who competed in the boys' U-12, fell out of the top
\nten in the final standings.<\/p>",
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