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.