Indonesian boys and girls to compete in 2nd ASEAN chess championships
Indonesian boys and girls to compete in 2nd ASEAN chess championships
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) will send 13 teenagers
to Kuala Lumpur to take part in the 2nd ASEAN Age Group Chess
Championship scheduled from Dec. 22 to Dec. 29.
The championship will feature six age brackets: U-8, U-10, U-
12, U-14, U-16, U-18, in both the boys and girls categories.
Among the Indonesian representatives in the boys division are
Tirta Chandra (U-18), Taufik Halay (U-16), Aris Haryanto (U-14),
Surya Wahyudi, Ivanskhy Diary Johan (U-12), Boy Reinhard, Nicolas
Sebastian (U-10), Mohammad Kevin and Olrenzo Diary Johan (U-8).
The girls, who will only compete in three age groups, are Evi
Lindiawati (U-16), Amalia Audra (U-14) and Irene Kharisma
Sukandar (U-10).
Another three players from Bandung, West Java, are to follow,
but their names have yet to be disclosed.
Most of the players will pay their own way to Kuala Lumpur,
with Percasi only supporting Tirta, Taufik, Aris and Evi. Parents
and siblings will also be among the team's entourage, which will
depart on Dec. 22.
"The parents are keen to pay for their children's tour as they
can use the opportunity to spend the year-end holidays in
Malaysia," Nike Setyawati, the team manager, told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday.
"Aside from the self-financing players, we have also offered
to pay half the expenses of some of the other players," she said.
Tirta is the only Indonesian veteran of the inaugural
championship in Vietnam last year, where he finished fourth.
The junior players study chess at the Utut Adianto Chess
School (SCUA) in Bekasi, 30 kilometers east of Jakarta. They are
currently undergoing intensive training under the guidance of the
coaching quartet of Maksum Firdaus, Irwanto, Hendra Johan and Aji
Hartono.
ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The event will also coincide with the Asian U-16 Girls Chess
Championship, in which Indonesia will be represented by Evi.
"I have to admit we are lagging a bit behind China and Vietnam
at the Asian level. But we are not totally writing off Evi's
chances. She does has a chance," Eka Putra Wirya, Percasi
executive director, said.
"Given her international experience, I guess Evi has the
potential to spring surprises," he said. Evi's latest
international stint was at the 2000 Turkey Olympiad.