Six Golds Between DKI Winners of the 2025 National Chess Championship

Viralterkini.id, Jakarta – The DKI Jakarta All-Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) contingent has once again confirmed its dominance on the national stage after successfully defending the overall champion title at the 2025 National Chess Championship (Kejurnas) which took place on 7–13 November 2025 in Mamuju, West Sulawesi.

DKI Jakarta closed the competition with 14 medals, consisting of six gold, two silver and six bronze.

This achievement is a repetition of the achievements at the 2023 National Championship, when Jakarta, which was the host, also won six gold medals and led the final standings.

This year’s achievement is also an answer to the challenge of the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pramono Anung, who requested that the overall champion title be maintained after inaugurating the new management of Percasi DKI Jakarta for the 2025–2029 period under General Chair Hardiyanto Kenneth last October.

The General Chairperson of Percasi DKI Jakarta, Hardiyanto Kenneth, expressed his gratitude for this success shortly after the group arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Thursday (13/11/2025).

“Praise God, this overall champion title is the result of the hard work of the entire team. Thank you to Mr. Governor Pramono Anung for his motivation and enthusiasm for all of us,” said Kenneth.

The man who is familiarly called Bang Kent added that the achievement of retaining the overall champion title was a form of fulfilling his promise to Governor Pramono Anung during the inauguration of the management at City Hall.

“I am grateful to be able to fulfill the promise to the Governor to defend the title of overall champion, as he hoped for during his last inauguration,” he said.

However, Kenneth admitted that he was not completely satisfied. He targeted ten gold medals, but the contingent was only able to bring home six.

He explained that the absence of the four top athletes also influenced the final results.

“We sent 38 athletes, but the results were wrong. Four of our top athletes who were almost certain to contribute gold were unable to go to Mamuju. This will be an evaluation material. In the future we will change the training and nursery system,” said the member of Commission C of the DKI Jakarta DPRD from the PDI-P faction.

In the final standings, DKI Jakarta is in the top position, ahead of East Java which is in second place with four gold, three silver and four bronze.

Yogyakarta finished third after winning three gold, three silver and two bronze.

DKI Jakarta won the most gold medals at this year’s event. The following is a list of gold winners from the capital city contingent:

Zach Alexander Tjong – Open U-9
Claudio Vargues Basque Lasama – Open U-17
Satria Ambassador of Light – U-19 Open
Gilbert Elroy Tarihan – Open
R. Syarif Mahmud – Veterans
Adeline’s pardon – Girls U-17

Kenneth hopes that DKI Jakarta’s success in maintaining the overall champion title can become a stepping stone to bringing more athletes to the national and international levels.

He believes that the potential for young athletes in Jakarta is very large and requires more structured development.

“The next target is maybe we will look at next year’s agenda. We will start coaching from each municipality and establish communication with chess clubs in DKI Jakarta to look for new seeds,” he said.

Apart from strengthening the breeding process, Kenneth is also preparing a tiered competition program to provide wider opportunities for young chess players.

According to him, the competition stage at city level is still very limited.

“I realize that chess players at the municipal level do not yet have a stage to perform. Next year I will start competitions at the municipal level and finals at the provincial level. Maybe this can be done through the Regional Championship,” he stressed.

Victory at the 2025 National Championship is also positive momentum for Kenneth, who was newly elected as General Chair of Percasi DKI Jakarta for the 2025–2029 period through the Provincial Conference (Musprov) on July 26 2025 at the Tavia Heritage Hotel. He replaced Pandapotan Sinaga who completed his term of office.

Ending his statement, Kenneth expressed his appreciation to the coaches, officials, athletes and sponsors from a number of BUMDs who supported the team’s journey.

“Thank you to Mr. Governor Pramono Anung for his motivation and enthusiasm for all of us, to the official team, the athletes who have fought hard, as well as the support from PAM Jaya, Bank Jakarta, PD Pasar Jaya, Ancol, Dharma Jaya, Food Station, and PT Transjakarta. Praise God, Percasi DKI Jakarta can become the overall champion again,” he concluded.