Chess body set up to groom national team

JAKARTA (JP): A special body to pick up and groom chess players for the national team was set up in January, according to national men's chess player Utut Adianto.

Utut said that the body, which is called the National Team Supervision Board (BPTN), would prepare chess players for the regional and international events such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Asian Games and Chess Olympic Games.

"The board will hold its first meeting on Friday where we will devise criteria to select the national team members. We will also discuss the possibility of getting financial support from the government if we want to take part in any multisports event," said Utut.

Utut, an FIDE Grand Master title holder who has the highest elo rating of 2589 in Indonesia, has been appointed chairman of the board.

Chess will be exhibited in the this year's SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in September and will be officially featured in the 2003 Games.

The Board's Secretary, Sebastian Simanjuntak, said that the idea to set up the team came from the executive chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) Eka Putra Wirya.

"In the past few years, we only select chess players through a selection procedure ahead of a big chess event like chess Olympiads. There was no special preparation.

"The board will organize a training program for chess players. A selection procedure will be held for them before joining the national team. A chess player who has earned a Grand Master title will not be easily admitted to the national team because he or she must undergo selection first," he said.

Sebastian, who holds the FIDE's International Master title, said that a player needs to train in a group to sharpen his or her skills.

"A training program is important for a chess player so he or she can benefit from training in a collective environment. They can learn from each other," he said.

He said that the training program will likely be held at the Utut Adianto chess school in East Bekasi.

"The school is fully-equipped for studying chess. It has books and computer programs," he said after attending the Claritin Chess Championships simultaneous chess competition between Utut and 36 physicians at the School of Medicine at the University of Indonesia here on Thursday.

Physician dr. Suparman and a medicine student Sumardi were awarded after drawing with Utut in the competition, which is hosted by publicly-listed PT Schering-Plough Indonesia Tbk. pharmaceutical company. The other 34 medics lost against Utut, but dr. Darby was rewarded as the best among the worst.

Utut said that the competition was merely an exhibition. "For the medics, this competition will leave a deep impression, because it might be the first time they can challenge Utut Adianto," he said after the match. (ivy)