NISB (Nederlands Indische Schaakbond) had since established a chess championship called Bondswedstrijden (Club Championship). The event had been held regularly from 1916 to 1940 at the big cities of Java. In the 1927 edition at Semarang, the pre-championship favorite Dirk Bleykmans played strongly to win the crown for the 7th time.
Mission accomplished. WIM Irene Kharisma Sukandar successfully registered her first WGM norm. She was assured of the norm after settling for a draw with Slovene WGM Jana Krivec in the last round. Earlier in the half way of the chess tournament the WGM norm prospect looked bleach for the 16-year old Indonesian.
The late Anniswati was the wife of the then Percasi Chairman, Machnan Kamaluddin. The tournament under her name sought to rejuvenate Indonesian women chess. Indonesia placed as high as 11th in the 1996 Women Chess Olympiad. But since Upi Tamin’s victory in Asian Championship a year later, Indonesian chess had been in decline.
A famous Dutch chess master Lodewijk Prins visited Indonesia in 1956. He spent two and half months traveling around Java, Sumatera, and Borneo. He played at Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Semarang, Medan, and Pematang Siantar. He also visited the home of the 1st Indonesia National Champion Arovah Bachtiar, the city of Banjarmasin, Borneo.
Gunadarma have been relentlessly treating Indonesian chess fans with a plethora of chess events over decades. In the year of 2002 they came up with an event in a new format, an individual chess league. The league was planned to have 8 legs. The best 24 players from master and 8 from non-master group would go to the grand final.
The 17th Indonesia National Chess Championship introduced many new faces. IM Ardiansyah, Jacobus Sampouw, and Arovah Bachtiar still sat down on top but Monang Sinulingga, Ridwan Gozali, Mukmin Panggabean, MHS Nainggolan, Abdul Azis Riduan, and the other usual suspects were nowhere to be found in the big 20.
Vietnam is developing to be the next chess powerhouse alongside China and India. Their undeniable domination in the 26th SEA Games 2011 at Palembang, Indonesia, is just another proof. Vietnam seized 6 gold medals of possible 9. The rest of golds was shared equally by Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand.
