Percasi will not seek Andrean replacement

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) has decided not to recruit a replacement for Andrean Susilodinata, choosing to compete at the World Youth Chess Olympiad with just four players, a Percasi official said.

The tournament, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27, is a team competition in which participating countries are allowed to bring an extra player, in addition to the mandatory four.

"We don't need to include a new player. I think we will be able to handle it with four players because the tournament only lasts nine rounds," Eka Putra Wirya, Percasi's executive director, told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

The four players taking part in the tournament are Susanto Megaranto, Tirta Chandra, Taufik Halay and Surya Wahyudi.

Susanto and Tirta are currently training with Jakarta's Japfa Chess Club. Taufik is training in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, while Surya is preparing for the tournament with the Utut Adianto Chess School in Bekasi, West Java.

Andrean was removed from the team because his parents insisted on accompanying him to Malaysia, which Percasi opposed.

Eka said the chess association and Andrean's parents had different ideas about what it took to make a player more mature for the sake of his chess career.

Despite his chess talent, Andrean, 12, is said by observers to be too dependent on his parents, which, according to Percasi, will impede his progress.

"We have tried everything to help make him a world champion in the future. But he doesn't appear to be trying to become more mature.

"If he remains spoiled and overly dependent on his parents he is unlikely to become champion," Eka said.

Andrean's parents, according to Eka, are reluctant to allow their son to travel without them to tournaments.

Andrean was also denied a place at the International Wismilak Chess Tournament last month because his parents insisted on accompanying him.

Meanwhile, Kristianus Liem, a team official, said Andrean's exclusion should pave the way for newcomer Surya Wahyudi to prove himself.

"If paired against each other Andrean should be able to beat Surya. But Surya has the kind of motivation that Andrean does not," he said.

The four players going to Malaysia will play against members of the Gunadarma and BNI chess clubs in a two-day warm-up on Thursday and Friday.