Players vying for SEA Games chess slots

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ninety-five men and 32 women from 27 provinces are competing in the chess competition here in hopes of securing a berth on the national chess team for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The eight-day competition, which ends on Monday, is being held at the Tanah Abang Chess Center in Central Jakarta.

Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Aceh have not sent any players.

The top five players will advance to the second phase of the selection process, which is scheduled for March 4 to March 10, where the men's qualifiers will do battle with 13 already selected, highly rated players for six available spots. The women will have to take on five of the top established players, also for six spots.

The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) is hoping to send eight men and six women to the SEA Games, which will be hosted by Manila in December.

Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto and GM Susanto Megaranto have already been assured of places on the men's team, leaving the six spots up for grabs. The selected national team will begin specialized training at the end of March.

Hendry Jamal, a Percasi official, said that the chess competition at the SEA Games would offer six golds, two lower than those provided in Vietnam in 2003. --JP