Looking at the composition of players at the national closed championships at the KL Parkroyal recently, it seems that our junior players have not only succeeded in invading what used to be the turf of the adults, but in all likelihood they are destined to dominate the local chess scene for years to come.
I do not have to look far in order to pick out the really outstanding junior players at this year's championship. Even as the tournament unfolded, it became clear that the race to become this year's national champion would be fought between two of the best teenaged players in the country.
The rivalry was very keen and close. After the first four rounds, the tournament had effectively turned into a two-player race between Mas Hafizulhilmi Rahman and Ooi Chern Ee.
Mas Hafizul, as you know, went on to pip Ooi for the title which he had also won in 1994. From the fifth round until the eighth, both players were running neck-to-neck with one another but in the crucial final round, Mas won while Ooi could only manage a draw.
There are many parallels between Mas Hafizul and Ooi. They learnt chess when very young and they both began making an impact in the local chess circuit three or four years ago.
Both of them had also played in several international chess events and they are presently part of the Malaysian team now participating in the Asian team chess championship in Singapore.
Likewise, a host of other players who finished near the top of the national closed championship are comparatively youthful, in their teens or early twenties: players like Tan Wei Sin, Mohd Fairin Zakaria, Thomas Lam, Lim Chuin Hoong and Ng Ee Vern, to name but a few.
Mohd Fairin and Thomas Lam, like Mas Hafizul and Ooi, possess international ratings given by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) by virtue of their results in international events.
The others that I named above do not have any rating presently because of a lack of exposure in FIDE-rated events but if they are given the opportunity, they too can earn their ratings.
Moreover, it has been a rather long time since anybody from Malaysia was awarded a title (FIDE master, international master or grandmaster) from the World Chess Federation.
The law of averages suggests that our next titled player should be coming soon. Can we dare hope that this player will emerge from any one of the hopefuls mentioned above?
Again, when I looked through the list of participants in this year's national closed championship, I am perplexed to note the scarcity of former national champions in the field.
We actually have a long list of former national champions. When the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) first announced the championship last month, it was made clear that all past champions since 1984 would be given automatic entry into the championship.
Sadly, only Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, national champion in 1991, accepted the invitation for the men's championship. The response from the former national women's champions was equally bad. Only Eliza Hanum Ibrahim, the 1993 champion, played.
Where were the rest of them? Scattered all over the country and perhaps overseas. I suppose many of them would say politely that they could not find the time from their work to participate in this event which was played over five days and during office hours too. One or two might even venture to say they could not be bothered with chess and the MCF anymore.
Regardless of the reason, it is a bit sad that those of them who are still around no longer support an event which had given them recognition as national champion and the opportunity to play in some international tournaments, either at home or abroad.
LIEW WINS VARSITY EVENT
It proved to be another successful homecoming for international master Jimmy Liew when he swept away the opposition to win the top prize of RM1,000 at the second Electcoms-USM national open chess championship earlier this month at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.
He played consistent chess throughout the three-day event to score seven points from eight games.
Two players tied for the second to third places with 6 1/2 points each: Teng Wei Ping and Chuah Heng Meng. Six other players - Teng Wei Hong, Wong Kam Loong, Lim Cheng Teik, Ooi Kiem Boo, Ng Tze Han and Wong Chee Chung - scored six points each. The winners of the ninth and 10th prizes were Ng Tze Han and Oung Kar Boon respectively.
Ian Lee, scoring 5 1/2 points, was the best under-20 player while Mohd Amir Abdullah with four points won the under-15 prize. The under-12 prize was given to Lim Yew San, and the best women's prize went to Yu Foong Ee.
The best university or college student among the 81 competitors was Clement Lee who obtained 5 1/2 points. According to the organisers, the USM Bridge and Chess Club, 24 of the participants were from Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
The main sponsor of the tournament was Electcoms Sdn Bhd which contributed RM4,000 in cash and kind. The other sponsors were Guiness Anchor Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, Tan & Tan Development Bhd and MBf Property Services (M) Sdn Bhd. The Bayview Beach Resort, Prosperous Restaurateurs, Hotel Continental and Seang Optometrist contributed prizes for the winners and the lucky draws.
FUND-RAISER
Care for the environment is a serious matter which should be close to everyone's heart. If, as a chess player, you are concerned about this planet on which we live, then the following information should be of considerable interest to you.
Tomorrow and on Sunday, a chess tournament will be held at the Sek Men Taman Melawati, near Zoo Negara. The event, organised by the school's chess club on behalf of Treat Every Environment Special Sdn Bhd (TrEES), is a fund raiser for environmental projects in the community.
This will be a six-round event with games played to a one-hour time control per player for each game. The prize fund is RM1,000 with prizes for the best 10 players. The winner gets RM300 and a trophy. There are also special prizes for the best woman and under-16 players.
Registration for the tournament can be made at the school hall tomorrow at 8am and a donation of at least RM10 will allow you to take part. For details, contact Adrian Lim, Ng Win Siau or Alicia Ling.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
The world under-26 team tournament was held in Parnaiba, Brazil last month. Eleven teams took part in the tournament which was held over seven Swiss rounds.
The winner of the tournament was Georgia which fielded a team which included three international masters. In second place was the Philippines which had two IMs in their team.
The big surprise of the tournament was the dismal showing of the Russian team which was represented by a team of unknowns.
With a wealth of talented players in Russia, it was truly surprising that the Russians had not bothered to come up with a better team. It is unlike Russia to send such a lacklustre team to overseas events where their image were at stake.
Final standings: Georgia 22 points; Philippines 19 1/2 points; Finland and Austria 16 points; Chile 15 points; Brazil A 14 points; Portugal 13 1/2 points; Venezuela 12 points; Russia 11 points; Bolivia 9 1/2 points; and Brazil B 3 1/2 points.
R Barcenilla (Philippines) - R Camejo (Portugal)
1. c4 e6, 2. Nf3 Nf6, 3. g3 d5, 4. b3 c6, 5. Bg2 b5, 6. O-O Be7 7. Bb2 bxc4, 8. bxc4 O-O, 9. Nc3 Ba6, 10. cxd5 cxd5, 11. Qa4 Qd7, 12. d3 Qxa4, 13. Nxa4 Bb5, 14. Nc3 Bd7, 15. Ne5 Na6, 16. Rab1 Rfc8, 17. e4 Rab8, 18. exd5 Rxb2, 19. Rxb2 Rxc3, 20. Rb7 Rc7, 21. Rxc7 Nxc7, 22. Rc1 Bd6, 23. Nxd7 Nxd7, 24. Rc6 Ne8, 25. Ra6 Bc5, 26. dxe6 fxe6, 27. Rxe6 Nef6, 28. h3 Kf7, 29. Re2 Bd4, 30. Kh2 a5, 31. f4 h5, 32. Bc6 Nb6, 33. Kg2 a4, 34. a3 h4, 35. g4 Bc5, 36. Kf3 Bd6, 37. Rb2 Nbd5, 38. Rb5 Ke6, 39. f5+ Ke5, 40. Ra5 Bxa3, 41. Bxd5 Nxd5, 42. Rxa4 Bb4, 43. Ra7 Be7, 44. Ra4 Nb4, 45. Ra5+ Nd5, 46. Ra6 Bf6, 47. Ra4 Nc3, 48. Rc4 Nd5, 49. d4+ Kd6, 50. Ke4 Bg5, 51. Rc5 Nf6+, 52. Kf3 Nd5, 53. Ra5 Nf4, 54. Ra7 Nxh3, 55. Rxg7 Bf6, 56. Rg6 Ke7, 57. d5 Ng5+, 58. Kf4 Nf7, 59. d6+ Nxd6, 60. g5 Bc3, 61. Re6+ Kd7, 62. Re2 h3, 63. f6 Bd4, 64. Kg4 h2, 65. Rxh2 Ke6, 66. Re2+ Be5, 67. Kh5 Nf5, 68. Re1 1-0
S Lizinov (Russia) - C Martins (Brazil A) 1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bc4 Bc5, 4. b4 Bb6, 5. O-O d6, 6. c3 Nf6, 7. d3 O-O, 8. Bg5 Ne7, 9. h3 Be6, 10. Bxe6 fxe6, 11. Qb3 Qd7, 12. a4 a6, 13. a5 Ba7, 14. Nbd2 Ng6, 15. Be3 Kh8, 16. d4 exd4, 17. Nxd4 e5, 18. Ne6 Rfe8, 19. Bxa7 Rxe6, 20. Be3 Nh5, 21. Qd1 Ngf4, 22. Qg4 Qe7, 23. Bxf4 Nxf4, 24. Qf3 Rg6, 25. Rad1 Rf8, 26. Nc4 Nxg2, 27. Qxg2 Rxg2+, 28. Kxg2 Qg5+, 29. Kh2 Qf4+, 30. Kg1 Rf6, 31. Ne3 Rg6+ 0-1
B Ferrufino (Bolivia) - J Tella (Finland)
1. Nf3 d5, 2. g3 c5, 3. Bg2 Nc6, 4. c4 e6, 5. O-O Nf6, 6. cxd5 exd5, 7. d4 Be7, 8. Nc3 O-O, 9. Bg5 cxd4, 10. Nxd4 h6, 11. Bxf6 Bxf6, 12. Nxc6 bxc6, 13. Na4 Re8, 14. Rc1 Bg4, 15. Re1 Qd6, 16. Qc2 Rac8, 17. e3 d4, 18. e4 d3, 19. Qd2 Qd4, 20. Nc5 Bg5, 21. Qxd3 Qxd3, 22. Nxd3 Bxc1, 23. Nxc1 Red8, 24. f3 Be6, 25. Kf2 Rd2+, 26. Re2 Rxe2+, 27. Kxe2 Rb8, 28. b3 c5, 29. Kd2 c4, 30. Kc3 cxb3, 31. axb3 Kf8, 32. f4 f6, 33. Bf1 Ke7, 34. Bd3 Kd6, 35. Bc2 Rc8+, 36. Kd3 Kc5, 37. Kc3 Kd6+, 38. Kd3 Bd7, 39. Kd2 Bc6, 40. Bd3 Re8, 41. Ke3 Bxe4 0-1
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