Becoming The President Of FIDE Asia, Utut Adianto Imbised In The Proliferation Of Chess Tournaments In ASEAN

A number of junior chess players competed in the 2019 Asian Junior Chess Championship in Solo, Central Java, Monday 1 July 2019. (Between-Maulana S)

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of the Indonesian Chess Association (PB Percasi) Grandmaster (GM) Utut Adianto has ambitions to increase chess tournaments in the Southeast Asia or ASEAN region.

Utut's desire is one of them by forming the management of the ASEAN Catur Confederation Council (ACC). The ACC was formed after Utut was appointed President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Zone 3.3 Asia last August.

He rushed by initiating the ASEAN Chess Confederation Annual General Meeting in Jakarta yesterday. The hail of the meeting determined Ignatius Leong from Singapore as the President of the ACC for the period 2022-2024.

"He [Ignatius] is not new, but very experienced. We want to strengthen chess between ASEAN countries," said Utut, quoted from Antara.

Later, the 57-year-old will encourage the ACC to often hold chess championships at the Southeast Asian level.

"If you make a tournament, you don't have to go all the way to Europe because in ASEAN there have been many chess players holding masterpieces. So if there are countries that hold tournaments, they must be supported by other countries, the way athletes are included," he added.

At the XXXII/2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, chess will not be competed. Usually, said Utut, this is because the host country does not have potential athletes who can win medals.

However, other ASEAN countries that are members of the ACC do not need to worry because the FIDE Zone 3.3 Asia is ready to oversee so that the Southeast Asian-scale chess tournament remains.

"We control each KONI (ASEAN country) to compete in chess. We must be able to bridge the various differences or problems that exist, so that in the future chess achievements in the 3.3 Asia zone will be better, because they have the potential to produce reliable chess players," said Utut.

The 3.3 Asia Zone consists of 17 FIDE member countries, namely ASEAN countries, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. Including Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the elected ACC President Ignatius Leong stated that he was ready to carry out the mandate he had given him.

He wants to rebuild Southeast Asian chess which was once victorious and even held international championships in the 1970s and 1980s.

The following is the composition of the ASEAN Chess Confederation (ACC) management for the period 2022-2024:

President: Ignatius Leong (Singapore)

Deputy President:1. Sahapol Nakvanich (Thailand)2. Maung Maung Lwin (Myanmar)

Secretary General: Akramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi (Malaysia)Deputy Secretary General: Jayson Gonzales (Philippines)Behara Umum: Sauwanan Bumrerraj (Thailand)

Vice President:1. Kristianus Liem (Indonesia)2. Urry Kartopati (Indonesia)3. See Swee Sie (Malaysia)4. Intava Vilavane (Laos)5. Nguyen Phuoc Trung (Vietnam)6. Mount Li Yang (Singapore)7. Pengiririan Abdul Rahman Yussof (Brunei Darussalam)