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Tue, 21 Apr 1998

JP/Indonesian chess association misses mark on female GM

Indonesian chess association misses mark on female GM

JAKARTA (JP): Executives of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) will complete their term in July on a low note, particularly because of their failure to meet a target to produce a woman grandmaster, a chess observer says.

Djamil Djamal, who is also the chess body's secretary, did not blame the failure solely on the chess body yesterday, saying he found no women chess players who qualified for the most prestigious chess title.

"It is not because Percasi did not do their best to help national woman chess players wrest the grandmaster title, but the players failed to match their world-class rivals," Antara quoted Djamil as saying.

He said Percasi gave the country's top three woman players -- Upi D. Tamin, Maria Lucia and Lisa Karlina Lumondong -- many opportunities to claim the distinction and improve their elo ratings.

"We have sent them to the Olympics of Chess and a number of tournaments in Europe under the tutelage of a foreign coach," Djamil said.

Distinguished female grandmaster Nana Alexandria of Georgia, who competed in an international tournament here last year, said then that Upi, Maria and Lisa lacked maturity and might need at least two years to obtain the title.

Djamil rejected Alexandria's analysis.

"It's not true that our players are immature. Upi has proven this by winning the 1996 Asian Chess Championship," said Djamil.

But he also noted the chess body's failure to deliver on another goal of having 100 players in the world rankings.

In the past five years, Indonesia has produced only 82 players who met the minimum elo rating for ranking by the world chess body FIDE.

"The target is indeed very difficult to achieve," Djamil conceded.

The chess body will hold a national congress in Bali in July to elect its new executives. The congress will coincide with the national championships.

"We hope that Akbar Tandjung will be reelected as the association's chairman. But we will welcome newcomers from the younger generation in the association," Djamil said. (lnt)