National selection for Chess Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): A dozen players will be vying for four national team seats in the Chess Olympics in Yerevan, Armenia, this September or October during a selection tournament this July 22.

Vice-president of the Indonesian Chess Association Cholid Gozali said yesterday that half of the pack will come from the national championships in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, early this year. The rest of selection places will go to the top six players in the national rankings.

The Indonesian team will be made up of eight players, with grandmaster Utut Adianto and grandmaster Edhi Handoko exempted from the selection.

"We are poised to move closer to the top 20 in the world. It's a very hard job, but we'll make it," Gozali said. An Utut-led team finished 28th in the previous Olympics in Moscow won by the Russia A team two years ago. It was a great improvement for Indonesia, which managed only 40th in 1992. (amd)