Chess association names board members
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) has named their board members for the 1999 to 2003 period.
Percasi chairman Bambang Rachmadi made the announcement on Sunday at the end of the one-month period given to the association to name its new board members.
Bambang is also president of the local McDonalds.
A number of board members from the 1995 to 1999 period were included on the new board. Former Percasi chairman Akbar Tandjung and his deputy Maj. Gen. Cholid Ghozali were named patrons of the new board, along with Djoko Moeljo Mangoenprawiro, Mochtar Kusuma-atmadja, Soeryadi Harmanto and Maj. Gen (ret) Rudolf Warouw.
Machnan R. Kamaluddin will serve as Bambang's deputy while Syafaruddin Husada replaces Kristianus Liem as the association's spokesman.
Djamil Djamal, a noted national chess player, was named secretary of the board and Eka Putra Wirya will be in charge of the board's performance development section.
Grand Master Utut Adianto was assigned to help enhance the talent of the chess players.
In total, the association consist of 29 sections, including foreign affairs, training, promotion, finance, psychology, health and the secretariat.
Bambang said the new board would focus on developing chess both in the country and overseas.
"I will always observe the activities of the new members as well as the association's regional offices. Our aim is to popularize chess in the community and to create world-class players," Bambang said.
He promised to provide incentives for regional offices and clubs to promote chess in their regions. "For the successful regional offices and clubs, I will personally give them certificates."
Bambang was optimistic Indonesia could create more world-class players like Utut, but said all related parties needed to work together to achieve the goal.
"We actually have talented players but we do not have another world-class player like Utut. I am optimistic that one day Indonesia will have one and probably he will come from the junior players," Bambang said.
Bambang admitted the association had some difficulty procuring funds because few companies wanted to sponsor Percasi events.
"I trust Subiakto Priosudarsono can find sponsors because he is a promotions specialist. I disagree that a lot of funds are required for chess. The most important thing is to look for talented players," Bambang said.
Machnan agreed with Bambang that the association should concentrate more on developing chess than seeking funds.
"If we have talented players who can compete in international matches, automatically many companies will sponsor the events," Machnan said.
Syafaruddin told The Jakarta Post that in his new post as spokesman, he would cooperate with journalists.
"I want to have good cooperation with journalists because they are considered the backbone of Percasi," Syafaruddin said. (lnt)