Bakri, 63, smirked widely before moving one of his white rooks, advancing to his opponent’s rook and capturing it. The opponent, left with his king on the chessboard to face Bakri’s two rooks and king, knew that he could only run to survive and decided to drop his king to signal defeat. Bakri smiled triumphantly.

Bakri, who did not even graduate high school, said that he learned to play chess on his own, reading books to better understand chess moves and tactics, including the Sicilian Defense he used at the start of the game.

He, however, clearly did not understand the rules of the rapid chess game he just played. Several times, he forgot to push the button on his game clock to mark the time he spent before making a move, which could have actually led him to a defeat.

As a gravedigger in Malaka cemetery in East Jakarta, he only plays chess on his down time, casually with fellow gravediggers. But, so does his opponent and other participants of the tournament Bakri joined on Friday, since all of them are gravediggers.

Bakri is one out of 160 gravediggers from 46 cemeteries in the capital that competed in a time-controlled rapid chess tournament held by the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) on Friday and Saturday.

The gravediggers, dressed in red T-shirts given for free by the event’s organizing committee, flocked to the Indonesian Sports Committee’s Wisma Catur in Central Jakarta, each hoping that the skills they honed while on duty would help them earn winnings from the total of Rp 25 million (US$2,600) in prize money made available for 10 winners.

“I joined the tournament just for fun, but who knew I would get the prize money,” Bakri, who makes Rp 25,000 for each grave he digs, said after a game.

The champion will take home Rp 10 million while the first and second runner up can win Rp 5.5 million and Rp 4 million, respectively, once all six stages of the tournament conclude on Saturday.

Percasi chairman Hashim Djojohadikusumo said that the tournament was held to promote chess as “a brain sport for the people”.

Hashim, the son of Indonesia’s late post-independence notable economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, said that the inspiration to hold the tournament came after he visited his mother’s grave in Tanah Kapuk cemetery in Central Jakarta and saw gravediggers playing chess.

He said he then learned that many gravediggers, while awaiting their next task, spent their free time playing chess. He then decided to initiate the competition.

“Chess is an affordable game for people from various backgrounds and it provides a good influence for the players. The analytical game that can be played anywhere and anytime can help improve the intelligence of those who cannot afford formal education,” he told reporters on the sideline of the tournament.

Hashim, who has chaired the association since 2010, said that Percasi planned to hold the event annually and expected to invite gravediggers from the 102 cemeteries in the capital to compete next year. If possible, he said, Percasi would expand the tournament coverage to gravediggers nationwide.

The opening of the ceremony was helmed by Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who applauded the tournament as a great leap in developing Indonesia’s chess game and for helping tap the grassroots’ potential.

“Chess could be a breakthrough in our quest to solve social problems that derive from a lack of analytical skills, and could also help shape one’s character,” Joko said. (aml)

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