Percasi may hire Sveshnikov as coach

Percasi may hire Sveshnikov as coach

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It may be a case of second time lucky for Grand Master (GM)
Evgeny Sveshnikov if the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi)
carries through with a plan to hire him to prepare the national
team for the 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

"We are awaiting an assurance from the National Sports Council
(KONI) about the availability of funds to be allocated to pay for
the foreign coach," Percasi caretaker chairman Grand Master (GM)
Utut Adianto told The Jakarta Post after the completion of a team
qualifying tournament here late on Sunday.

The Latvian -- known as an avid campaigner for copyrighting
chess games -- was set to coach the team for the 2003 SEA Games,
but the plan fell through amid the notorious inconsistencies of
the association's then directors.

Utut, who took over Percasi's chairmanship on an interim basis
following the retirement of Jeffrie Geovanie in December, said
the association wished to hire Sveshnikov for a limited period
from two to three months.

Percasi will send seven men and five women to the SEA Games in
Manila in December.

The lineup of the team will not be known until the completion
of the second phase of qualifying on March 4-9.

Sixteen men will compete for the remaining five places on the
team to join Utut and GM Susanto Megaranto.

Five of the 16 came through the first phase of last week's
qualification tournament that ended on Sunday.

They are FIDE Master (FM) Tirto of South Sumatra, Sukarnedi
(North Sumatra), Tirta Chandra Purnama (Jakarta), FM Awam Wahono
(West Java) and Ediyanto (Central Java).

Awaiting them are 11 players who were exempted from the first
stage thanks to their higher ratings. They include GM Edhi
Handoko, GM Cerda Barus, GM Ruben Gunawan and GM Ardiansyah.

Five qualifiers also came through in the women's division.

Evi Lindiawati (Jakarta), Ai Zakiah (West Java), Felica
Trenseno (Jakarta), Yuliati Tjindarbumi (Banten) and Tri
Handayani (East Java) will compete next month in a field that
also includes automatic entrants Upi D. Tamim, Lusi Lumondong and
Irene Kharisma.

"The next qualification will much tighter than the previous
one. Therefore, you have to be more prepared for the match," Utut
told the qualifiers during his closing speech.

The chess competition of the SEA Games will offer six gold
medals, two less than those presented during 2003. Identifying
Vietnam and Philippines as tough rivals, Utut said Indonesia's
best prospects were for two golds.

"Hopefully, the arrival of Sveshnikov, should we proceed with
our plan, will give us more confidence in the medal quest," he
added.