Chess body set up to groom national team

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)