Past stars to join Anniswati chess event

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian chess veterans Upi Darmayana Tamin and Lisa Lumondong are set to take part in the inaugural Anniswati Memorial Cup, the organizing committee says.

The Anniswati Cup, a national women's chess tournament, will take place over three series with the opening round scheduled for May 20-26. The second round will be from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19 and the third round from March 3 to March 9, 2003.

The top ten players from the first and second series, which are scheduled to be played under the Swiss system, will qualify for the final stage where the competition will shift to a KO contest.

The organizer said that the event would also aim to monitor talented players to be recruited for a national team for the 2003 SEA Games.

"We are going to prepare a team which is ready for the SEA Games," Eka Putra Wirya, the committee chairman, told a press conference here on Friday. He was accompanied by Machnan Kamaludin, the chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi).

Upi and Lisa were part of the four-strong Indonesian team which finished in an unprecedented 11th position at the 1996 Chess Olympiad, a feat their male compatriots have never equaled.

Upi, who followed up her impressive team's performance by becoming the Asian champion in the same year, has since played rarely, not only in international competition but also in national tournaments due to work commitments.

Her latest appearance was in the 2000 Olympiad in Turkey, but she failed to inspire her teammates this time.

Lisa too has made a rare appearance. After her poor performance in the 1997 Stahl International Invitation in Jakarta, she has since disappeared from the national chess scene.

The Anniswati Cup could have been an emotional reunion of the former 1996 squad, but the other two members -- Lindri Yuni and Maria Lucia -- are unlikely to turn up as they failed to respond to the invitation.