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.