RI youths set to challenge chess queen Kosteniuk

RI youths set to challenge chess queen Kosteniuk

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a year's absence, an international chess match is scheduled
to be held in Indonesia next week with three junior stars taking
on Women's Grand Master (WGM) Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, the
runner-up at the recent World Championship.

Susanto Megaranto, 15, Tirta Chandra, 16, and Andrean
Susilodinata, 12, are set to challenge the 18-year-old Russian,
who holds the record of being the youngest female player ever to
attain a grand master title.

The six-day Japfa Chess Match, to be held at the VOC Cafe and
Gallery in North Jakarta from March 18 to March 23, will be the
first international event in a year after Andrean, then 11 years
old, was beaten by his Vietnamese rival Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in
their match-up.

"The youths have progressed rapidly over the past year. And
I'm sure they can beat Kosteniuk," Indonesian team coach GM Utut
Adianto said on the upcoming prospects for the match at a press
conference on Wednesday.

A number of officials at the Indonesian Chess Association
(Percasi) were present at the conference along with the
representatives from the event sponsor, Japfa Comfeed.

Utut hinted that he was not blowing the issue out of
proportion when he recalled the 2001 junior world chess
championship in Spain.

Susanto and Andrean were close to taking their unprecedented
world titles when they slipped up in the final round, which left
them in the fifth and sixth places of their respective age
divisions.

A recent stunning achievement for Susanto unfolded when he
beat the odds in winning the Pusam Open, a strong chess
tournament, which featured many senior grand masters, in
Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

Tirta has been more mediocre with his accomplishments than his
two compatriots, but he still deserves acclaim as the best player
in the Southeast Asia region with his run last year.

"The matches should be tight going. Kosteniuk is typically
offensive and the opponents are likely to be engaged in a wild
exchange of attacks," Utut said.

The chairman of the organizing committee, Eka Putra Wirya, was
more cautious about expectations of the event.

"Our youths are beaten statistically. But if they can turn the
tables, it will really be big news," Eka, who is also Percasi's
executive director, said.

Kosteniuk landed her grand master title when she was 13 years
and 10 months old and has since made herself one of the strongest
players in her field.

At the world championship played on her home turf early this
year, she marched on to the final stage before being stopped by
Zhu Chen of China by a narrow margin.

Ironically, it was because of her high status as the world's
runner-up that almost spoiled Indonesia's bid to bring her here.

Kosteniuk may have reevaluated her worth after the
championship was over, demanding a higher appearance fee and that
the event be arranged with simultaneous games.

Eka was close to abandoning hopes at the time, but the
negotiations continued and they settled at an agreed US$6,000 for
the fee, excluding two tickets for her and her mother and a
vacation in Bali.

Eka said Kosteniuk's date of confirmation came about two weeks
ago.

Koseteniuk is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on a KLM flight
on Saturday afternoon.

She will take on the youths in two games each, with Andrean
being the first opponent on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Tirta
on Wednesday and Thursday and Susanto on Friday and Saturday.