'Chess queens' revel in Indonesia tour
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Three top international women chess players say they are relishing their tour of Indonesia and are excited about playing in the US$12,500 Makita-Lakoni International Grand Master tournament, which starts here on Monday.
The six-way tournament will begin its 10-day competition at the Graha Kita Karya building in North Jakarta, pitting the woman against three Indonesian men.
"I'm glad that I'm here in Indonesia for this tournament," woman's world champion GM Zhu Chen said here on Saturday.
Zhu, from China, admitted to knowing only a little about Indonesia's players but she did mention Utut Adianto, one of the Indonesian contenders, whom she said was a force in Asia.
Zhu is accompanied by husband and fellow chess player GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki of Qatar.
The Makita event will mark the second visit in three years by European women's champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.
Her first was a successful run in the 2002 Wismilak tournament in Surabaya, East Java, where she won the tournament over all- male participants.
But Stefanova was coy in assessing her prospects this time.
"I'm glad to be back to Indonesia. It should be a difficult tournament. I'll try my best to play a good game," Stefanova said.
Hoang Thanh Trang of Vietnam, the other female contender, said the tournament would provide her a chance to obtain a grand master (GM) title.
"I want to get the third GM norm," said the international master (IM) title holder.
A player needs to score at least seven points from 10 tournament rounds to attain a grand master norm.
Hoang, who helped the Vietnamese women's team win the gold medal at the December Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, won her previous two norms in Budapest where she has been living with her family since she was 10.
Meanwhile, Utut Adianto, whose world ranking of 2591 is the highest of all the participants, tried not to be carried away by his favorite status.
"From the rating people say I'm the favorite in this tournament. But performing like the favorite is no easy deal," he said.
Utut will open his game against fellow international master Danny Juswanto on Monday, while 16-year-old IM Susanto Megaranto, whom Utut has touted as his successor in Indonesian chess, will challenge Hoang.
Meanwhile, Zhu and Stefanova, who both played at last month's Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, will square up.
The draw was witnessed by Ignatius Leong, the president of the Southeast Asian Chess Federation.
While the tournament starts on Monday, Utut and Zhu will warm up by playing a two-game blindfold match on Sunday. A total of $3,000 is up for grabs, with the winner taking $2000.