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Japfa Chess Festival lets little champs shine on board
Strategic decision making: A participant at the Japfa Chess Festival prepares to make a move during the event that was held at the Youth and Sports Ministry meeting hall by the Indonesian Chess Federation
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trategic decision making: A participant at the Japfa Chess Festival prepares to make a move during the event that was held at the Youth and Sports Ministry meeting hall by the Indonesian Chess Federation. The main stage featured a women’s grand master duel between Indonesian Medina W Aulia and Janelle M Frayna of the Philippines.(JP/David Caessarre)
Erlianti watched closely as her son Kevin Hokita Nagasena was studying the pawns on the board in front of him. Kevin was taking on M. Suryauno from East Java in the third round of the boys’ under-14 competition at the 2018 Japfa Chess Festival, held at the Youth and Sports Ministry’s meeting hall.
The game ended in a draw, a result the 12-year-old Kevin seemed quite content with. He went straight to his mother Erlianti after the last move had been made.
Kevin, who hails from Jakarta, began to play chess when he was 8 years of age, as his father acquainted him with the chess figures. Sutarmin Kusnadi immediately saw talent in his son, as he found that Kevin quickly got the hang of the game.
“[I like chess], because it involves strategy and [complexity],” Kevin told The Jakarta Post after the game on Wednesday.
He learned the game without joining any chess club, picking up the theory from videos on YouTube.
He started to participate in competitions at age nine. His talent was proven when he won his first title at the Jakarta Regional Chess Championship in 2015, where he came out on top in the boys’ under-9 division.
“He just started learning the sport and suddenly he won the title,” said Erlianti.
Erlianti said she had witnessed many positive side effects since her son began to focus on the sport. Besides his achievement in chess itself, she saw improvement in her son’s comprehension of school subjects like mathematics.
“His opponent today was two years older than him. I am proud he could equalize the game against his opponent,” she said, while her husband added that many talented young chess players had joined the tournament.
The annual Japfa Chess Festival, which takes place for the 11th time this year, is Kevin’s first tournament. Kevin said he wanted to finish among the top three of the tournament.
The event is not only an opportunity for the country’s chess association (Percasi) to spot new talent, but also for parents to learn that chess is one of the best options for their children’s development.
In his speech to open the tournament, Percasi chairman Utut Adianto, a grand master, said the tournament was an opportunity for parents to realize that chess was a good investment in their children’s future.
Meanwhile, at the center stage of the event, the second round in the women’s grand master duel between Medina Warda Aulia and the Philippine’s Janelle Mae Frayna ended with a draw.
“I was actually down one pawn during the game. In the middle of the game, she offered a draw, and since I was a bit hesitant, I accepted it. I could secure the point, and I still lead in the overall score,” Medina said after game.
“She was a bit passive compared to yesterday’s match. She was holding onto one of her pawns, and that made her position quite uncomfortable, actually,” she added.
When asked why she had decided to offer a draw, Janelle said her pieces were not in a harmonious position, even though she felt she had started the game better than her opponent.
“I was not so sure what to do, so I may have played it just a little too safe,” she told the Post.
