Two weeks to go before the 14th Merdeka team chess championship gets going again and as usual, this annual event will once again be organised by the Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia.
To be held at Wisma Belia in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 1-3, the three sections of the competition - state, youth (under-18) and open - will all be staged simultaneously.
The premier attraction is the state section where traditionally, all the state chess associations in the country will compete for the Deputy Prime Minister's trophy. Everyone now accepts this event as the national team chess ] championship.
For the youth section, the winner will be awarded the Merdeka Youth challenge trophy. Normally too, many of the state associations will field teams in this event but lately, the organisers have also been allowing other junior teams to participate.
Finally, there is the open section which has never failed to attract teams from near and far. Numerous teams from Singapore will again be expected.
Two rounds will be played on Sept 1, three on the second day and the remaining two games on the final day of competition.
The closing ceremony follows the last round and the various winners can expect to receive their prizes from Tourism Minister Dato Sabbaruddin Chik who is also president of the Malaysian Chess Federation.
Three prizes are on offer for the state section. Apart from the challenge trophy, the winning team will receive RM1,500. The second prize is RM1,200 and the third prize is RM1,000.
For the youth section, the winner will get RM600, the first runners-up RM400 and the second runners-up RM250.
The open section will feature five prizes as there are normally quite a lot of teams taking part. The winner's purse is RM1,200 and the other prizes are RM1,000, RM800, RM600 and RM400.
Apart from these, special prizes of RM200 each are given to the best government department team, the best women's team and the best school team.
Entry fees are RM150 for teams taking part in the state and open sections and RM80 for the youth section. Entries received after the official closing date on Aug 31 will be charged an additional RM30 as late fees.
MERDEKA TOURNAMENTS
The Johor Bahru District Chess Club will organise a one-day Merdeka open tournament on Aug 31 at the Holiday Inn in Taman Century, Johor Bahru.
There will be three categories. The first is an open section featuring a top prize of RM300 and six other prizes totalling RM475.
The second is the under-18 section which also offers seven prizes with RM100 going to the winner; and the third is the under-12 section with a RM80 first prize.
Entry fees are RM15 for the open section, RM5 for the under-18 section and RM4 for the under-12 section. Readers interested in play in this tournament should register with the organisers before Aug 25 because only the first 200 entries will be accepted.
For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-331-7604 or 07-333-8215).
In Perak, the state-level Merdeka celebrations committee will hold a similar tournament on Aug 31 at the Dewan Bandaran DBI in Ipoh. This open event will double as a selection for players to represent the state at the Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur.
For more information, contact Mrs Teh or Mr Chan of the organising committee (tel: 05-253-7924) or alternatively, contact Mohd Jamil b Yahya (tel: 05-526-7091).
FAST GAME BY YOUNGSTERS
There were 38 participants in Total Chess' one-day open quickplay tournament which was organised in Petaling Jaya earlier this month.
Although the more established senior players in the Klang Valley were absent, the tournament was well represented by a flock of fast improving youngsters.
The event was won by 14-year-old Lim Yee Weng who scored 5 1/2 points from six games. In joint second to fifth places were Michael Adrian Wind, Mustafa Kamal Zamhuri, Wong Zi Jing and Htay Win who each obtained five points.
The prizes for the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and under-10 players went to Lee Wei Kwang, Ng Kian Seng, Haniza bt Che Hashim and Jonathan Chuah respectively. Aaron Yee Keng Yew was the best Total Chess player.
Total Chess is an outfit in Petaling Jaya which specialises in providing training and organising events for chess enthusiasts in Petaling Jaya. Its next programme is a holiday camp for children up to 16 years of age during next week's school holidays.
The camp begins Monday and will go on until Wednesday from 10am to 6pm daily, and the fees are RM60 per person. For more details, contact Joseph Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Games from the recent Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland.
Lucas Brunner - Jan Timman
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1. Nf3 Nf6, 2. c4 c5, 3. Nc3 Nc6, 4. e3 e6, 5. d4 d5, 6. cxd5 exd5, 7. Be2 cxd4, 8. Nxd4 Bd6, 9. O-O O-O, 10. b3 Re8, 11. Bb2 Nxd4, 12. Qxd4 Be5, 13. Qd2 Bg4, 14. Bxg4 Nxg4, 15. h3 Nf6, 16. Rfd1 Rc8, 17. Rac1 Rc6, 18. Nb5 Ne4, 19. Qe2 Bb8, 20. Rxc6 bxc6, 21. Qg4 g6, 22. Nd4 Qf6, 23. Qe2 Qd6, 24. Nf3 Ng5, 25. Kf1 f6, 26. Nxg5 fxg5, 27. Qg4 h6, 28. Rc1 c5, 29. Ba3 Qa6+ 0-1
Alexei Shirov - Jan Timman
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1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bc4 Bc5, 4. b4 Bxb4, 5. c3 Be7, 6. d4 Na5, 7. Be2 exd4, 8. Qxd4 d6, 9. Qxg7 Bf6, 10. Qg3 Qe7, 11. O-O Bd7, 12. Nd4 O-O-O, 13. Nd2 Nc6, 14. Qe3 h5, 15. Rb1 Nh6, 16. Qd3 b6, 17. a4 Kb8, 18. a5 Nxa5, 19. Qa6 Ka8, 20. e5 Qxe5, 21. Bf3+ d5, 22. Nc4 Bc8, 23. Qxa5 Qxd4, 24. Qa2 Qxc3, 25. Be3 Bb7, 26. Bxb6 cxb6, 27. Nxb6+ Kb8, 28. Nxd5 1-0
Alexei Shirov - Vadim Zvjaginsev
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1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 e6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nc6, 5. Nc3 Qc7, 6. Be2 Nf6, 7. Be3 b6, 8. g4 h6, 9. Qd2 Nxd4, 10. Bxd4 e5, 11. Nb5 Qb8, 12. Be3 Nxe4, 13. Qd3 a6, 14. Bf3 axb5, 15. Bxe4 Ra4, 16. Bd5 Bc5, 17. O-O-O O-O, 18. g5 hxg5, 19. Rhg1 g4, 20. b3 Rxa2, 21. Rxg4 Qd6, 22. Kb1 Ra6, 23. Rdg1 Qf6, 24. Bg5 Qxf2, 25. Bh6 e4, 26. Rxg7+ Kh8, 27. Qh3 1-0
Utut Adianto - Alexey Dreev
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1. d4 d5, 2. c4 c6, 3. Nf3 Nf6, 4. Nc3 e6, 5. e3 Nbd7, 6. Bd3 dxc4, 7. Bxc4 b5, 8. Bd3 Bb7, 9. a3 b4, 10. Ne4 c5, 11. Nxc5 Nxc5, 12. dxc5 Bxc5, 13. Qa4+ Ke7, 14. axb4 Qxd3, 15. bxc5 Rhc8, 16. Bd2 a5, 17. Rd1 Ba6, 18. Nd4 Rd8, 19. Bb4 Qc4, 20. b3 Qxb4+, 21. Qxb4 axb4, 22. Nc6+ Ke8, 23. Nxd8 Rxd8, 24. Rd4 Nd5, 25. e4 Nf4, 26. Rxd8+ Kxd8, 27. Kd2 Nd3, 28. Ke3 Kc7, 29. Rd1 Ne5, 30. f4 Nc6, 31. Ra1 Bb7, 32. Kd3 e5, 33. g3 Bc8, 34. f5 Nd4, 35. Kc4 Bb7, 36. Ra2 Bxe4, 37. Kxb4 Nc6+, 38. Kc3 Bxf5, 39. b4 Be6, 40. Rb2 Nd4, 41. b5 Bd7, 42. b6+ Kb8, 43. g4 h6, 44. h3 Kb7, 45. Ra2 Nc6, 46. Rd2 Be6, 47. Rd1 g6, 48. Re1 Bd5, 49. Ra1 Be6, 50. Re1 h5, 51. gxh5 gxh5, 52. Rg1 Bxh3, 53. Rg7 Be6, 54. Rh7 Nb8, 55. Rxh5 Nd7, 56. Kb4 Kc6, 57. Rh1 e4, 58. Ra1 Ne5, 59. Kc3 e3, 60. Ra7 e2, 61. Rc7+ Kb5, 62. Kd2 Nc4+ 1/2-1/2
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