RI seeks another slot in chess event

RI seeks another slot in chess event

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will be seeking another slot at the 2003 World Chess
Championship when it sends seven players to the regional
qualifying tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in the next
two weeks.

The players are Grand Master (GM) Cerdas Barus, FIDE Master
(FM) Irwanto Sadikin, Tirto, International Master (IM) Salor
Sitanggang, IM Danny Juswanto, Susanto Megaranto and Tirta
Chandra Purnama. Susanto and Tirta are members of the national
juniors' team.

Vietnam's qualifying matches have been moved to June from
April due to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS).

Two slots for the world event will be provided at the
tournament, which will run from June 20 to June 30 and feature
participants from 18 countries grouped in Zone 3.2a.

The 2003 World Chess Championship will be staged in the
Netherlands in December, where Indonesia has been assured a spot,
thanks to GM Utut Adianto.

"We expect another ticket for the world championship. It would
be good for our development if we can have a player to accompany
Utut," Eka Putra Wirya, the executive director of the Indonesian
Chess Association (Percasi), told The Jakarta Post here on
Wednesday.

Utut, who is the No. 1 grand master in Indonesia, netted a
ticket after he finished in the top ten at the Asian Championship
in Doha, Qatar, in early March.

Warning about rivalry, particularly from tough contenders
Vietnam and the Philippines, Eka said Indonesia should have good
prospects with Cerdas and rising star 15-year-old Susanto to
follow Utut.

Cerdas will be heading to Vietnam with high confidence after
his impressive performance at the World Olympiad in Bled,
Slovenia, in October last year. Cerdas grabbed a gold medal after
emerging as the best scorer among the first-board players.

However, he should keep in mind the tournament's challenges
given the past failure of Utut to survive the competition and sit
out the 2002 event in Moscow, Russia.

"It will be a tough competition again. Apart from Utut and Dao
(Thian Hay) of Vietnam, who have qualified, the grand masters of
the host country and the Philippines are expected to join," Eka
said.

Utut's appearance in the Netherlands will be a comeback for
him after he played in Groningen, Las Vegas and New Delhi, but
missed his chance at the 2002 season in Moscow.

Given the Zone 3.2a, which includes 10 countries from
Southeast Asia, the tournament could prove to be a prelude to the
chess competition at the SEA Games in December, also in Vietnam.