Irwanto dreaming of world c'ship qualification<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Irwanto Sadikin, who won the Gunadarma Chess League at the
\nweekend, will head to a qualifying tournament in Vietnam with the
\ndream of participating in the 2004 World Championship.<\/p>\n
The Vietnam chess tourney will feature participants from Asian
\nZone 3.2a, which comprises the countries grouped in the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), plus a number of
\nneighboring states.<\/p>\n
The 2004 World Championship will be staged in the Netherlands,
\nand Indonesia has pinned its hopes on GM Utut Adianto. The
\ncountry's number one player secured his berth after finishing
\nfifth at the Asian Championship in Doha last month.<\/p>\n
The Vietnam outing will be Irwanto's second attempt at world
\nqualification after an unsuccessful run in Kuala Lumpur back in
\n1996.<\/p>\n
Despite the tough competition traditionally posed by the
\nplayers from Vietnam and the Philippines, the 33-year-old
\nIndonesian said he was anxious to give it another try and hoped
\nthings would turn out better than in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"I know it will be undeniably tough out there. But I nurture
\nhopes, albeit slim, that I'll get through to the world event,\"
\nFIDE Master (FM) Irwanto told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Vietnam qualifying matches, which provide two qualifiers
\nfor the World Championship, will run from June 20 to June 30 and
\nIrwanto, whose Vietnam trip comes as reward for his victory in
\nthe Gunadarma Chess League, said that with around three months
\nstill to go he would set out on a tough preparation regime.<\/p>\n
While being aware of the stiff competition likely during the
\ntournament, Irwanto will go to Vietnam with a second target
\nshould his qualification bid fail: he is eager to collect enough
\npoints to upgrade his FM title to that of International Master
\n(IM).<\/p>\n
He has moved a step closer to attaining the IM title after he
\nmanaged to chalk up his first IM norm in the Surabaya
\ninternational event last year.<\/p>\n
Irwanto scraped through to win the inaugural Gunadarma Chess
\nLeague after defeating GM Edhi Handoko in the final matches here
\non Saturday. It was his first victory after his national
\nchampionship win in 2001.<\/p>\n
Irwanto should not be alone in his Vietnam outing as the Japfa
\nChess Club is planning to send four players: GM Edhi Handoko,
\nSusanto Megaranto, GM Cerdas Barus and IM Salor Sitanggang.<\/p>",
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