Utut aims to finish 20th in Chess Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto has set a target of finishing 20th in the men's team competition at the 34th Chess Olympic Games in Istanbul in October.

"We want to improve our rank. It'll be fantastic if we can finish 20th, because there are so many good chess players from former Soviet Union countries. When we reached 19th place, the Soviet Union was still one country," he said during a media conference on Tuesday.

Indonesia's best-ever achievement at the Chess Olympics was in 1986 in Dubai, when the men's team managed to finish 19th. Ten years later, the women's team finished 11th in Yerevan, Armenia. Indonesia first took part in the Olympics in 1960.

Utut expressed optimism the team could match this mark, but said that to do so it must maintain good teamwork.

The Indonesian men's team consists of Utut, International Master (IM) Cerdas Barus, GM Ruben Gunawan, GM Edhy Handoko, IM Danny Juswanto and FIDE Master Hamdani Rudin.

The women's team comprises National Master (NM) Ai Zakiah, IM Upi Darmayana D. Tamin, Indonesian Chess Association Master (PM) Evi Lindiawati and PM Yenny Riayaningrum.

The Olympics will take place from Oct. 28 to Nov. 14.

The newly appointed executive chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi), Eka Putra Wirya, said the association would invite a world-class Grand Master to be Utut's practice partner.

Eka said he had contacted GM Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia to help Utut work on various new strategies. "We want Utut to reach an elo rating of 2600. He once managed to achieve a rating of over 2600 but now his elo rating is declining."

Utut, whose current elo rating is 2583, said he would practice with Ehlvest or 1999 World Champion GM Alexander Khalifman of Russia after competing in the US$3,000 Neftjugansk Chess Championships in Siberia, Russia, from Aug. 25 to Sept. 3.

"We have invited Khalifman, but he asked for too much money. We have not made our decision. Anyway, I'll practice with either Ehlvest or Khalifman for only two weeks," he said, refusing to disclose Ehlvest's fee.

Utut admitted he had much to learn about the new developments in chess, particularly the openings and defensive variations.

"Everybody has praised my good understanding of chess movements but I am too out of date on the openings and defensive variations, which have developed very fast in the past few years," he said.

In other news, the new Percasi chairman, Machnan R. Kamaluddin, unveiled the association's new officials for the 2000 to 2003 working term. The new lineup comes after former chairman Bambang N. Rachmadi resigned in March. Machnan, who was the executive director, took over the post temporarily until a new management team could be set up.

"We have learned a valuable lesson, that the chairman of a sports organization does not necessarily have to be rich," he said. Bambang is the president of McDonald's Indonesia.

Machnan will be assisted by E.S. Margianti, H.A. Asri Harahap and Jeffrie Geovanie as his deputies, Eka as executive chairman, Djamil Djamal as secretary-general and Fatmah Bahalwan as treasurer. (ivy)