Players seek SEAG slots at Anniswati Cup

Players seek SEAG slots at Anniswati Cup

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Anniswati Memorial Cup, a women's chess tournament, began its
grand final matches here on Wednesday with a view to select
players for a national chess team for the biennial Southeast
Asian multi-event competition in Vietnam in December.

The 14-strong list of competitors at the tournament comprises
seven top players from the preceding two series of the
tournament, the winner and runner-up of the recent Gunadarma
Open, the winner and runner-up of the qualifying matches on
Tuesday, and three wild-card entrants.

The wild-cards have been given to national champion Ai Zakia,
teenager Amalia Andra and veteran Lisa Lumongdong, one of the
Indonesia's few women's international masters (WIM) who has just
returned from her self-imposed exile.

The Anniswati Cup is one of the four selection fields planned
by the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) for its preparation
for the next multi-event Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam
where chess will be competed for the first time.

"We will pick two players from each of the tournaments. The
eight candidates will be pitted against each other to fight for
four places on the team," Hendry Jamal, Percasi chief in charge
of training workout, said.

Along with six men, Percasi plans to send six women to
Vietnam. WIM Upi Darmayana Tamin and Evie Lindiawati have been
awarded automatic slots in the women's team.

The tournament, which will run until Tuesday next week, is
scheduled to play seven rounds of classic chess games followed by
nine rounds of rapid games.

The opening round on Wednesday saw four players win over their
respective opponents. Evie beat Tuti Rahayu, Yulianti Tjindarbumi
defeated Irene K. Sukandar, Stefani Dian stopped Sulung
Wahyuningsih and Amalia Andra was awarded a win by forfeit as Ai
Zakiah failed to turn up.