Chess players start chase for SEAG slots

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda, E. Kalimantan

The 2003 Pusam Cup chess tournament starts today in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, while the organizers are already looking ahead to raise the tournament level next year.

The tournament features 160 players from 20 provinces. They will play nine rounds for a week-long competition, with a total Rp 37 million up for grabs. One-hour-and-a-half of thinking time is allowed for the players.

Tournament director Joni said that the event also would provide an automatic National Master (NM) title for players who could win 5.5 to 6 points from a possible 9.

"In previous events, the players would usually have first to win a certain number of points before being given the title. We are bestowing the credit directly to successful players this time around, thanks to Percasi's (the Indonesian Chess Association's) support for the tournament," he said.

Meanwhile, with the second year of organization under way, the organizers are already looking overseas to improve the level of competition. "We are interested in bringing in foreign players to join the competition next year. We shall work out a scheme," chairman of the organizing committee Erwin Dwi Budiawan, said.

Apart from the prizes, the fact that the tournament has provided the participants with a chance of possible inclusion in the national team must add spice to the competition hype, given that the Pusam Cup serves as a selection field ahead of the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam.

"This is the opening tournament for team selection. We have planned an overall six tournaments ahead of our training camp in August. The winner and runner-up in each tournament will be short-listed and fight for places in the national team," Percasi representative Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto said.

The biennial, multi-event sporting event between the Southeast Asian nations, the 2003 SEA Games, will run in December, to which Percasi plans to send six women and six men players. As the country's number one player, Utut is already assured a place in the next squad.

"We hope the players will display their best sportsmanship at the Pusam Cup and the top two winners will be those tested well during the event," Utut said.

GM Ardiansyah, GM Edhi Handoko and GM Cerdas Barus lead the participant list as the hot contenders at the tournament, along with 2002 champion, 16-year-old Susanto Megaranto.

Three International Master (IM) title-holders and five FIDE Masters (FM) also make up the list.

The tournament is scheduled to play an entire nine rounds, with a control time of 1.5 hours allowed each player.