Called As Money Oriented Against Dewa Kipas Awarded IDR 150 Million, GM Irene: I Am A Professional, The Prize Is Normal

GM Irene Kharisma Sukandar (Instagram @irene_sukandar)

JAKARTA - Deddy Corbuzier's podcast team took the initiative to create a friendly match between Dewa Kipas and Grand Master (GM) Irene Kharisma Sukandar. This match will be held on Monday tomorrow with a total prize of IDR 150 million.

Suddenly, Irene received accusations of money because of the gift. But she said that the existence of a prize in a match is a natural thing. Moreover, she is a professional.

"Chess is my profession, everywhere I write professional chess, or if in English there is Indonesian Professional Chess, that means because it's my profession, I want that appreciation", said Irene in a video on her YouTube account- quoted from Antara, Sunday.

"For example, professional singers, if asked to sing somewhere automatically ask for gifts or ask for payment for their results or efforts. It is the same as professional chess, it is in the same realm. Whatever professionalism one is engaged in, regarding prizes, about this payment is a very normal thing", she added.

Meanwhile, Deddy Corbuzier in a video uploaded on his YouTube account on Saturday said that the prize was given as a token of appreciation.

"Because of this competition, there must be a definite prize, because this is an achievement", said Deddy.

"Chess matches have never been more interesting in Indonesia, in my opinion".

In recent weeks, the news about the case of the Dewa Kipas account, owned by Dadang Subur, who won the match against foreign chess player IM Levy Rozman (USA) under the account name GothamChess has been busy talking about.

This occurred when the Board of Fans account was banned by chess.com which then resulted in Indonesian netizens making "attacking" comments on the GothamChess and chess.com social media accounts, such as on Twitter, Instagram, and also YouTube because they did not accept the Dewa Kipas account being banned.

Deddy Corbuzier invited the owner of the Dewa Kipas account to appear on his podcast. After the open letter, Irene was also invited to Deddy Corbuzier's podcast.

Deddy Corbuzier then took the initiative to make a friendly match between Dewa Kipas and Irene. It will be held tomorrow, the prize is up to IDR 150 million.