Junior players compete in world chess event

Junior players compete in world chess event

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian teenage chess team left for Spain on Friday to
take part in the World Championships, with the team coach hoping
they can build on their previous runs.

The championships, featuring players from around 65 countries,
will run from Oct. 21 - Nov. 2 in Oropesa del Mar for the fourth
straight year.

Susanto Megaranto will compete in the U-14 category, Andrean
Susilodinata in the U-12 category, while Boy Reinhard, who is
making his international debut, joins the U-10 field.

The team looked serious in preparing the three youngsters,
with each of them training under the supervision of a senior
player.

"We have been preparing hard for the championships. Speaking
objectively, they have a chance," GM Utut Adianto told a press
conference before the team's departure.

Utut took charge of Susanto, while IM Danny Juswanto and FM
Irwanto helped Andrean and Boy respectively.

While Boy is participating primarily to build experience,
Susanto, 13, and Andrean, 11, are both under pressure to return
home with a medal.

Machnan Kamaludin, the chairman of the Indonesian Chess
Federation (Percasi) and Eka Putra Wirya, the executive director,
have good reason to be confident about their charges' prospects.

In three of his last four appearances at the championships,
Susanto has shown he can perform well when given the chance.

After finishing 11th in the U-10 category at his international
debut in Cannes, France, in 1997, Susanto entered the U-12
competition only to end up in 26th position. But he came back the
following year with a stunning third place.

He moved up to the U-14 grouping last year. To his
disappointment, he could only finish a mediocre 17th. Still in
the same category, he will be looking for an improved performance
this time around.

"I have tried to fix those areas where he has looked poor. He
had a limited openings repertoire. Thanks to his current training
regime, Susanto has made significant improvements," Utut said.

Utut expects stiff competition from the strong field that
includes a number of former champions in their respective
categories.

Among the hot contenders are the 1999 U-12 champion, Wang Yue
of China, the 2000 U-12 champion Deep Sengupta of India, the 1998
champion in the U-10 category Alavi Moghadam of Iran and Hikaru
Nakamura of the United States.

Andrean, who finished in seventh place in the U-10 competition
last year, is facing the prospect of a rematch against Vietnamese
competitor Nguyen Ngoc Truong-Son.

The two teenagers met each other in Jakarta in March, with the
Vietnamese player, the current U-10 champion, beating the
Indonesian.