'New board must approach government'

'New board must approach government'

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With Jeffrie Geovanie taking over as chairman of the Indonesian
Chess Association (Percasi) on Tuesday, the country's number one
Grand Master, Utut Adianto, is urging the association to seek
financial support from the government.

Jeffrie was elected chairman after winning the support of 26
of the 27 provincial chapters at the association's conference in
Semarang, Central Java.

The 36-year-old, who acted as deputy chairman of the
association last term, succeeds Machnan Kamaluddin.

"Given the support from the provincial chapters, which appears
to be huge, Jeffrie should not waste this momentum to carry on
with what he already has on his agenda for national chess," Utut
told The Jakarta Post.

"Institutions with structural links to the government should
be approached. The government must show its goodwill toward
chess.

"Look, Vietnam (chess) has enjoyed total support from its
government," Utut said, referring to Indonesia's biggest chess
rival in the region.

"Consolidation within the provincial chapters must also be
pursued in an attempt to produce more strong players in areas
outside of Java," he said.

The new chairman will lead a five-strong team to establish the
new board of Percasi.

Utut is a member of the team, despite a previous announcement
that he intended to resign from the organization to concentrate
on his chess.

"It is a difficult for me to reject (the offer to join the
team). But I will have to bargain. If possible, I do not need to
be included on the board," said Utut, who will compete in the
World Chess Championship in the Netherlands in December