Chess associations to relish 2003 SEA Games

Chess associations to relish 2003 SEA Games

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's top chess official and his regional counterpart
applauded the inclusion of chess in the list of official sports
at the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam.

The sport was also included in last year's SEA Games in Kuala
Lumpur, but as an exhibition sport.

"Although we had expected the decision given last year's
event, the announcement came as a relief because we now have the
chance of winning more medals for Indonesia at the event," Eka
Putra Wirya, the executive director of the Indonesian Chess
Association (Percasi), told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"This should bode well for the development of chess in the
country. I hope its inclusion at the SEA Games will stimulate
more interest in the sport," he said.

Ignatius Leong, president of the Southeast Asian Chess
Confederation, also looked enthusiastic about the news.

"It's good news that chess will be competed at SEA Games for
the first time after 44 years," Singapore-based Leong said in a
newsletter sent to Percasi.

SEA Games is a biennial sporting showcase event for Southeast
Asian nations.

The region comprises ten nations: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.

Chess, whose sporting value remains debatable, was one of the
three sports outside the SEA Games Federation's statute, which
has been added to a provisional list of 24 sports planned for the
event during the federation's executive committee meeting in
Hanoi at the weekend. The other two are fin-swimming and
shuttlecock kicking.

The chess competition will offer eight golds in the eight
events, four in 'classical chess' and four for 'rapid chess'. The
chess delegation had previously hoped for 12 events but the
'blitz chess' category has since been omitted.

While conceding Vietnam's likely domination, Eka said
Indonesia would vie for one third of the golds on offer.

"Vietnam is obviously stronger than us, especially in the
women's field.

"Yet, we should be able to fare well if we keep focused on our
target," he said.

Vietnam, spearheaded by GM Nguyen Ahn Dung and Thu Huang Tong,
rang early warning bells when it won all three golds at the Kuala
Lumpur 2001 SEA Games.

The Philippines and Myanmar are the other two tough
competitors in the region.