It is not often that the state chess associations outside the Klang Valley manage to attract foreign players but the Terengganu Chess Association managed to get Vietnamese international master Nguyen Anh Dung to play in the Sutra Beach Resort open tournament.
Of course, the fact that the Vietnamese player happened to stay behind in the country after the zonal championship at Genting Highlands helped considerably. It did not take much to persuade Nguyen to try his luck for the first prize of RM1,000.
So Nguyen turned up in Kuala Terengganu very much the pre-tournament favourite. He reeled off four wins in a row, including a third round victory against the national champion, Mas Hafizulhelmi.
Unfortunately, the Vietnamese lost his touch in the fifth round and the local crowd was especially estatic when their homegrown player, lawyer Ghalam Sani, produced an inspired game to take a point off Nguyen.
Ghalam was in a good form. A round earlier, he had despatched off former national champion Mok Tze Meng and before that, former national schoolboy champion Ahmad Maliki. A draw against Mas Hafizulhelmi in the final round was sufficient for Ghalam to win the tournament.
After his loss to Ghalam, Nguyen was no longer in the running for the top prize despite winning in the sixth round against Maliki. He drew against Mok in the final round to place joint second/third with Mas Hafizulhelmi.
The three-day tournament was played at the Sutra Beach Resort in Kuala Terengganu. Sponsored by the hotel, the event attracted 40 participants including seven current or former national players. The local field was limited to only six players with the rest, excluding Nguyen, coming from various parts of the country.
The prize winners: Ghalam Sani 6 points, IM Nguyen Anh Dung and Mas Hafizulhelmi 5.5 points each, Ahmad Maliki, Mok Tze Meng, Rosli Mohd Nor and Agus Salim 5 points each, John Chay, Mohd Fadli Zakaria and Ismail Ahmad 4.5 points each.
THE BAYVIEW UPDATE
With eight rounds completed in the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League, Chung Ling High School A is in the lead in Division One after a 4-0 win over Penang Development Corporation.
Penang Free School A suffered a slight setback when they lost to Chung Ling High School B by a 1.5-2.5 score. Old Frees Association beat Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling 3-1, while Universiti Sains Malaysia scored a 3-1 win against Penang Free School B and Pessca beat Hitachi Semiconductors 4-0.
In Division Two, Chung Ling High School C beat Penang Chinese Girls High Schol 4-0, while their D team won 3-1 against Union High School. Penang Free School C beat the MSSPP Girls 3-1 and Bank Bumiputra beat Hewlett-Packard 2.5-1.5. DCI beat Mara Taiping 3-0.
The current standings after eight rounds:
Division One - CLHS A 23 points, PFS A 20.5 points, OFA 18 points, PACL 17.5 points, Pessca 17 points, USM 16.5 points, CLHS B 15.5 points, MSSPP Jrs and PFS B 9.5 points, PDC 8 points, and Hitachi 5 points.
Division Two - CLHS C 24.5 points, CLHS D 23.5 points, PFS C 16.5 points, MSSPP Girls, HP and BBMB 16 points, Union 13.5 points, DCI 12.5 points, NS 8 points, Mara Taiping 5.5 points and PCGHS 5 points.
The Penang Bayview Chess League is annually sponsored by The City Bayview Hotel. The ninth round will be played this Sunday morning at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant.
TWO TOTAL TOURNAMENTS
Total Chess, a commercially-run chess club in Petaling Jaya, will stage two local rating tournaments on Aug 6 and 13.
On Aug 6, an open category tournament will be played at the Total Chess premises in the New Town Centre, Petaling Jaya; 10 cash prizes totalling RM300 will be at stake. There are also prizes for the best under-10, under- 12, under-14 and under-16 players.
On Aug 13, a special tournament for under-12 players will be held.
Both tournaments are six-round events using a time control of 25 minutes per player for each game. The entry fees are RM15 for Total Chess members and RM20 for non-members in the open category event, and RM10 and RM15 respectively for the under-12 event. For further enquiries or registration, call Joseph Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Here are two games from the local chess circuit this week. The first was played at the Terengganu Sutra Beach Resort championship in Kuala Terengganu and features Nguyen Anh Dung's loss to Ghalam Sani, while the second game is from the Penang Bayview Chess League.
White: Ghalam Sani
Black: Nguyen Anh Dung
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1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. g3 g6, 4. Bg2 Bg7, 5. d3 e6, 6. f4 Nge7, 7. Nf3 d5, 8. 0-0 0-0, 9. h3 Rb8, 10. a4 dxe4, 11. dxe4 b6, 12. Qe2 Nd4, 13. Nxd4 cxd4, 14. Rd1 Qc7, 15. Nb5 Ba6, 16. Nxc7 Bxe2, 17. Rd2 Bc4, 18. e5 Nf5, 19. g4 Ne3, 20. Be4 f5, 21. Rxd4 Rbc8, 22. Bxe3 Rxc7, 23. gxf5 gxf5, 24. Bf3 Ba6, 25. c3 Bb7, 26. Bxb7 Rxb7, 27. Rad1 Rff7, 28.Rd6 Rfe7, 29. c4 Bf8, 30. Rd8 Kf7, 31. Kf2 Rec7, 32. b3 Be7, 33. R8d3 Ke8, 34. Rg1 Kf7, 35. Ke2 Rc8, 36. Bd2 a6, 37. Be1 b5, 38. axb5 axb5, 39. cxb5 Rxb5, 40. Bd2 Rc2, 41. Rc1 Rbc5, 42. Rxc2 Rxc2, 43. Kd1 Ra2, 44. Kc1 Ba3+, 45. Kb1 Rb2+, 46. Ka1 Rc2, 47. b4 Bc1, 48. Bxc1 Rxc1+, 49. Kb2 Rc4, 50. Kb3 Rxf4, 51. b5 Rf1, 52. Kc4 Re1, 53. b6 Rxe5, 54.Rb3 1-0
White: Tan Eng Seong
Black: Ooi Chern Ee
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1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. d3 g6, 4. Be3 d6, 5. f4 Bg7, 6. Nf3 Nd4, 7. Be2 b5, 8. Qd2 b4, 9.Nd1 Nxe2, 10. Qxe2 Nf6, 11. h3 a5, 12. 0-0 0-0, 13. c4 bxc3, 14. bxc3 Ba6, 15. Qc2 Qd7, 16. Rb1 Bb5, 17. c4 Ba4, 18. Qd2 Qc6, 19. Nc3 Rfb8, 20. e5 Ne8, 21. Nd5 Rb7, 22. exd6 exd6, 23. f5 Nf6, 24. Bh6 Bh8, 25. Qg5 Nxd5, 26. fxg6 fxg6, 27. cxd5 Qd7, 28. Rxb7 Qxb7, 29. Qf4 Qb4, 30. Qxd6 Re8, 31. Kh1 Bb5, 32. Ng5 c4, 33.Rf8+ 1-0
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