Junior chess tourney begins

Junior chess tourney begins

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-eight youths, mostly university students
from Jakarta whose age is below 30, kicked off their first
matches of the second Ibis chess tournament at Ibis hotel in
Slipi, West Jakarta.

The tournament, which offered a total of Rp 27 million
(US$3,200), was held in seven matches according to the FIDE Swiss
system. Each player is given one hour to complete their moves.

The hotel's sales and promotion manager, S. Rolita Lais, said
the three-day tournament was aimed at increasing the number of
local competitions in a bid to attract young people to play
chess.

The tournament was also held at the same time in other Ibis
hotels in Kemayoran and Mangga Dua, while in Cikarang, in Menteng
and in the Arcadia hotel it will start on Thursday, she said.

Eight winners from each hotel will be given a rare opportunity
to challenge Indonesian top player Grand Master Utut Adianto
prior to the grand final, which will start from Oct. 18 to Oct.
20.

Ramli from Jakarta-based Bina Nusantara university said that
he would continue pursuing the masters title in another event.
Ramli, who finished first in the tournament at Ibis Cikarang
hotel last year, was sharpening his skills here.

"There is a National Master in my hometown in Cilacap, Central
Java. I want to be just like him. He used his initiative to learn
how to play chess by reading books. Queen Gambit is my favorite
opening and I learnt it from book," he said. (ivy)