Grandmaster Utut Adianto is a household name due to his chess-playing abilities and his mastery of the game may come in handy as he rises in politics.

“Many of my [fellow] lawmakers say [I] think strategically. But I just go with the flow,” said Utut after he was sworn in as deputy speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Right after the inauguration, the public may expect to see him speaking as a high-level politician representing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has the most seats in the House.

PDI-P patron Megawati Soekarnoputri appointed the 53-year-old politician to assume the role.

Utut’s appointment is a direct result of the newly passed Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law, which expanded the House speakership to accommodate the PDI-P. The ruling party was previously denied a leadership post after opposition parties amended the law to award House leadership to the largest coalition, instead of individual parties with the most votes.

Utut’s presence on the House speakership board added to the existing arrangement which included a speaker, Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party, and four deputy speakers — Fadli Zon of Gerindra, Taufik Kurniawan of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party and Fahri Hamzah of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Currently the interim PDI-P faction chairman, Utut started his political career as a lawmaker in 2009 representing the Central Java VII electoral district covering Purbalingga, Banjarnegara and Kebumen regencies. In the 2014 legislative election, he secured a second term as a House member.

He quickly climbed the political ladder and landed the job as the party faction chairman in 2015 replacing lawmaker Olly Dondokambey who was running for governor. The following year, Utut was mandated as deputy chairman of House Commission X, which oversees education, youth affairs, sports, tourism, art and culture.

He started playing chess at the age of 6 and won his first gold medal at the Jakarta Junior championship in 1978 at 12.

The following year, he ranked second at the World Youth Chess Championship.

Utut was made a grandmaster when he was 21, which made him the youngest Indonesian to earn the title. In 2007, he became the vice president for THE ASEAN Chess Confederation.

The Utut Adianto Chess School, which he established in 1993, has also produced a number of professional chess players.

Utut still plays a role in chess.

In 2017, he was named chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association — a position he will hold until 2021.

“I have dedicated 40 years of my life to chess. Playing and teaching chess are my greatest sources of happiness,” Utut said.

Today, for the first time in history, the House has an even number of leaders, a new structure that many political analysts and civil groups say may disrupt the decision-making process.

House leaders did not say anything detailed, but guaranteed that “the decision-making is collective, collegial and democratic, thus the additional seats won’t complicate matters”.

The PDI-P’s presence on the speakership board is expected to balance out the power between ruling and opposition parties.

The government coalition now has the PDI-P, PAN and Golkar, while the opposition camp has Gerindra, the PKS and the Democratic Party.

“The House should not be too noisy anymore,” Utut said.

Political communication analyst Hendri Satrio of Paramadina University told The Jakarta Post that Utut’s presence on the House speakership board would add value to the PDI-P.

“The PDI-P will get recognition that it’s the winner of a legislative election and it will have a voice in making strategic decisions,” he said.

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