A selection of chess stories and opinions in The Star newspaper over the decades
29 September 1995
22 September 1995
The great hope of Asian chess
THE GREAT HOPE OF ASIAN CHESS
For decades, world championship chess has been dominated by the West. Ever since the late Mikhail Botvinnik won the title in 1948, the world chess champion has always been a man from behind the Iron Curtain.
Well...almost always, actually. In 1972, the American Bobby Fischer challenged the Soviet hold on the title and he wrested the title from Boris Spassky in a match that mesmerised the world.
Will history be repeated? Right now in New York, at the observation deck of the World Trade Center, the Professional Chess Association's world champion, Gary Kasparov, is being challenged by Viswanathan Anand.
To many people from the West, Anand is the fourth non-Soviet/Russian player to challenge for the world crown. Apart from Fischer, regular readers of this column will remember that Kasparov played Nigel Short in London while the World Chess Federation's Anatoly Karpov played Jan Timman in Amsterdam and Jakarta three years ago.
However, to chess players from this region, "Vishy" Anand is the first Great Hope of Asian chess. Never before has Asia produced a player of such calibre and on Anand's shoulders rest the expectations of millions of Asian chess players.
In Anand's native India, chess interest is at an all-time high, and elsewhere across the Asian continent, there is fervour and excitement because of the bout.
Who is Vishy Anand? For the uninitiated, Anand was born in India on Dec 11 1969. His father is a retired rail station manager. In 1987, Anand became the world junior chess champion and people began taking notice of him when he began winning tournaments in Europe against established Western players.
When I first met Anand in Genting Highlands in 1989, he was an easy-going and mild-mannered player who proclaimed to me that he had little ambition for the world crown but yes, if given the opportunity he would want to play Kasparov one day.
When I next saw him, it was three years later in Manila. Anand's confidence had increased tremendously as by then he was already accepted by the leading grandmasters as one of the top players of his generation. He had already played Kasparov several times so his early ambitions had been realised many times over.
Anand is not only India's strongest-ever player but he is now ranked second in the world by the Professional Chess Association.
Adored by millions in India, Anand is still easy going, witty and warm. However, he still makes chess players nervous as they discover that Anand's friendly exterior hides a razor-sharp mind with the knack for setting cunning traps.
He is such a rapid chess player that he frequently unsettles his opponents and draws surprise and admiration from spectators. This rare ability means he is virtually never in time-trouble which is a big advantage in top-level chess when grandmasters play for high stakes against the clock.
In 1994, at the London leg of the Intel Grand Prix speed chess event, Anand gained notoriety for knocking out Chess Genius, the Pentium processor-based PC which had itself already eliminated Gary Kasparov in the first round of the contest. After beating t he machine, Anand said in relief: "I used to watch The Terminator and feel sorry for the machine -- but not any more."
Anand reached the pinnacle of the Intel World Chess Championship Final with ease by sweeping aside highly rated opposition including English grandmaster Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky of the United States.
Earlier this year he knocked Kasparov out of the Moscow leg of the Intel world chess Grand Prix. There are many people who believe that Anand is peaking at the right time and they believe he has a good chance to create an upset in New York.
The Intel world chess championships final at the World Trade Center has all the ingredients of being the most exciting chess match this decade.
CAN ANAND PULL IT OFF?
Can India's Viswananthan Anand create an upset victory over the Professional Chess Association's world champion, Gary Kasparov? Let me try to put a few observations in the right perspective. Firstly, the points to Anand's advantage.
When Anand lost a narrow match to Anatoly Karpov in the last World Chess Federation cycle, he began a run of tournament successes that suggested that he was ready to take the World Number One spot from Kasparov.
However, his confidence deserted him for a couple of years. But in spite of all this he remains comfortably placed as one of the top five players in the world. He has used this time to rebuild his style and rhythm of play in order to progress.
How good is Anand now? In the last year, he has played very little: just one high-level tournament in Riga where he finished second to Kasparov, even losing on the black side of an Evan's Gambit. Then he put in a sterling performance to beat Gata Kamsky i n the final of the Intel world championship qualifying matches and a couple of rapidplay events.
He looks strong, confident and extremely well prepared. If, as suggested, he is more naturally gifted than Kasparov, Anand might actually be a better player than Kasparov.
If Anand starts the match confidently and plays his best, then Kasparov might be in for a torrid time indeed. Howvever, his career record against Kasparov is spoilt by a surfeit of games with the black pieces. Speed, rhythm of play, good memory and excellent feel are the keys to Anand's play.
Now, when considering Anand's negative points, we have to look at his inexperience in playing world championship matches. If it is a big disadvantage to him, he will need to overcome this quickly and avoid the disasters that befell Vassily Smyslov in 1954 and Nigel Short in 1992. (Both these players made abysmal scores in the first games of their matches against Mikhail Botvinnik and Kasparov respectively.)
Questions have been asked of Anand's abilities in the endgame and his capacity to blunder. He was written off as a nervous player after his first loss to Kamsky in the FIDE cycle.
However, this is an over-simplification. Anand can be as ruthless as any other player. When the going gets tough Anand will have to be at his most competitive to see it through. World champions need to have this quality, and even if Anand believes he is t he best in the world he will have to tough out the inevitable setbacks in this match.
The final and obvious point is that conversely, we don't know what progress Anand has made in the last year. In the end, he may just turn out to be a worse player than Kasparov.
FOLLOWING THE GAME
For readers with Internet access who wish to follow the games live from New York, point your web browser (Netscape 1.1n or 1.2n are preferred for accessing the World Wide Web) to either http://www.xculture.de/sport/wcc95live or http://www.intel.com/intel/ chess/index.html.
The first URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a sports web site in Germany which carries on-going analysis by the strong Fritz3 chess program, while the second URL belongs to microchip giant Intel who are using this opportunity to advertise their own web site.
The world championship games are played four times weekly. The only problem is that the games begin at 3pm New York time, so if you want to catch them live you will have to be awake at 3am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings.
TIME FOR SECOND USM OPEN
Encouraged by the good response to last year's USM national open chess tournament, the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge & Chess Club will organise a second tournament this year at their campus from Dec 1-3.
This event will be held over three days and eight rounds of 1.5 hours each per player for each game. Ten prizes have been lined up for the participants and the winner will receive a RM1,000 prize.
The second prize is worth RM750, the third prize RM500, the fourth prize RM300 and the fifth prize RM200. The sixth to 10th prizes will be RM100 each. In addition, trophies will be given to the three best players in the university.
The tournament is open to all school, university and college students as well as members of the public.
The fee for students is RM20 and RM30 for the public. Accommodation for outstation participants can also be arranged within the university campus at a rate of RM2.50 per day for students and RM5 per day for the public. Foreign participants can expect free accommodation from the organisers.
To register for the tournament, contact Ms Chew Siew Imm (tel: 04-657-7253 after 8pm), or write to the Organising Committee, 2nd USM national open chess tournament 1995, Kelab Bridge dan Catur, Pusat Mahasiswa, 11800 USM, Penang. Entries will close on Oct 20.
JUNIORS IN SELAYANG
The new Selayang Mall Shopping Centre in Kepong will be the venue for a one-day Selayang juniors open chess tournament scheduled for Oct 8.
This event, organised by Selayang Mall Sdn Bhd with technical support from Total Chess, will have three categories - under-10, under-12 and under-16. Ten prizes will be awarded in each category.
Whiz Kid Sdn Bhd is sponsoring the main prizes for the tournament which are computer dictionaries worth about RM900 and a computer organiser worth about RM400. The other prizes include computer games software and discount vouchers. The entry fee will be R M12 per player (inclusive of lunch).
The closing date for entries is Oct 6 at 5pm. All registration and enquiries can be directed to Cecilia or Rebecca at the Selayang Mall Shopping Centre (tel: 03-616-4588 and 03-616-9430) or Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).
GAMES OF THE WEEK: NECK AND NECK
The Professional Chess Association's world chess championship match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand is in full swing and here are the first four games from the match. The first player to win 10* points in the 20-game match will be declared winner. In the event of a tie at 10-10, Kasparov will retain his title.
Just before 3pm on Sept 11, the two players walked towards their sound-proof playing booth on the Observation Deck of the World Trade Centre. New York Mayor Guliani stood between them and made a ceremonial first move 1 c4 for Anand. Later, Anand thought the better of it and chose 1 e4. After 27...h6, Kasparov offered the draw which was instantaneously accepted by Anand.
V Anand - G Kasparov, Game 1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. a4 Nc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Rad1 Rad8 14. Nb3 Bc8 15. Bf3 b6 16. Qf2 Nd7 17. Nd4 Bb7 18. Bh5 Rf8 19. Qg3 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bf6 21. Be2 e5 22. fxe5 Bxe5 23 . Qf2 Nc5 24. Bf3 Rfe8 25. h3 a5 26. b3 Bc6 27. Rfe1 h6 0.5-0.5
The second game of the match was drawn after 27 moves when Kasparov offered to split the point with Anand. The PCA champion had about eight minutes remaining on his clock compared to about 21 minutes for Anand when the draw was agreed.
G Kasparov - V Anand, Game 2
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. e3 c5 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 cxd4 9. Bxd4 Nc6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Ne2 Bd7 12. a3 Qe5 13. Nc3 f5 14. O-O-O O-O-O 15. g3 Kb8 16. Be2 (This move was played after thinking for more than 40 minutes) 16...Ne7 1 7. Qd3 Qc7 18. Qd6 Bc6 19. Qxc7+ Kxc7 20. Rhe1 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Rd8 22. Rxd8 Kxd8 23. Kd2 Nc8 24. Kd3 Nd6 25. Kd4 b6 26. b4 Ke7 27. f4 h6 28. a4 f6 29. a5 Bd7 0.5-0.5
The third game was the most exciting so far in the match. Again, the draw was offered by Kasparov.
V Anand - G Kasparov, Game 3
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. a4 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bd3 Nb4 13. a5 Bd7 14. Nf3 Bc6 15. Bb6 Qc8
Kasparov varies from 15...Qd7 which was played between Eric Lobron and Kevin Spraggett 10 years ago. That game ended in a victory for White after complicated play. By playing 15... Qc8, Kasparov reserved the d7 square for his Knight.
16. Qe1 Nd7 17. Bd4 Nc5 18. Qg3
The threat is checkmate on g7, but this is easily parried by Black.
18. ... f6 19. e5
When Anand made this move, the excitement level on the Observation Deck rose instantly. During the post-mortem of the game, Kasparov admitted that the situation had been very dangerous for him. He had believed that 18...f6 was tenable, but he changed his opinion after 19 e5. The reply 19...dxe5 would have been inadequate because of 20 Bxh7+, leaving no defense for Black, eg 20...Kxh7 21 fxe5 f5 22 Bxc5 Bxc5 23 Ng5+ which gives White a vicious attack.
19. ... Rf8 20. Bxc5
Kasparov said 20 exf6 Bxf6 21 Bxh7+ was very dangerous for him (eg 21...Kxh7 22 Ng5+ Bxg5 23 fxg5 Kg6 24 Rf6+! gxf6 25 gxf6+ Kh5 26 Qh3+ Kg5 27 Rf1 e5 28 Be3+ Kg6 29 Qh6+ Kf7 30 Qg7+ Ke8 31 Qe7 mate), and that he felt great relief when Anand played 20 Bxc5.
20. ... dxc5 White gets the better position after 20...Nxd3 21 exd3 Nxc5 22 dxe4 Rf7 or 21 Bxd6 Bxd6 22 exd3 Nxb2. Although White has the better position, Black's drawing resources were sufficient.
21. Bc4 Bd5 22. Nxd5 exd5 23. Bb3 c4 24. Ba4 Nc6 25. c3 fxe5 26. Nxe5 Nxe5 27. fxe5 Qe6 28. Bc2 Rxf1+ 29. Rxf1 Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Qf4 g6 32. Bd1 Qf7 33. Qd4 Qf1+ 34. Qg1 Qxg1+ 35. Kxg1 Kf7 36. Bg4 b6
0.5-0.5
The fourth game was drawn after Anand accepted Kasparov's offer. The inability of Kasparov to take an early lead in the match must be seen as a small psychological victory for Anand.
G Kasparov - V Anand, Game 4
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qb3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d3 h6 9. e3 Re8 10. a3 dxc4 11. dxc4 Bxc3 12. Qxc3 e5 13. b4 e4 14. Nd2 Qe7 15. b5 Ne5 16. Nxe4 Nf3+ 17. Bxf3 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Qxe4 19. f3 Qe7 20. e4 Be6 21. Be3 0.5-0.5
15 September 1995
Bandung wins in Hong Kong
Hongkong was an enjoyable experience. The typhoon weather and the hectic playing schedule notwithstanding, the Asian cities invitational team championship was very well organised.
Whether intentionally or not, the organisers from the Hongkong Chess Federation failed to disclose the ratings of the participants in the various teams. To an extent, it helped the quality of chess because unrated players, feeling unshackled during their games, played better by not caring whether their opponents were rated players or not.
But of course, even without ratings, grandmasters like Utut Adianto, Eddy Handoko and Rogelio Antonio and international masters like Rogelio Barcenilla, Ricky de Guzman, Luis Chiong and Wong Meng Kong were there in Hongkong, together with the likes of us.
By "us", I mean the Penang team which comprised Chuah Heng Meng, Khor Bean Hwa, Ng Weng Kong, Ooi Kiem Boo and myself.
We started off with a 0.5-point score against the Nagpur team, then improved with 1-3 scores against Bangkok and Yangon. The best results came during the second day's play when we scored 2.5-1.5 against Taipa and 3.5-0.5 against Macau before wrapping up with a 3-1 win against the BIC Club which represented the sponsors of the tournament.
But heady results are invariably met with a down-to-earth bump and on the third day we suffered a 0.5-3.5 loss to a pseudo Phuket team (really a second Bangkok team in disguise) and the ignominy of a 0-4 loss to Ho Chi Minh City in the final round.
Ho Chi Minh City were going great guns but in the seventh round they were brusquely brushed aside 3.5-0.5 by the eventual winners, Bandung. This pushed them artificially down the tournament standings and Penang was unfortunate enough to be paired with them.
We had hoped to have been paired with Kowloon as the two teams were the closest together in points but that was not to be.
Still, we could take some comfort in the fact that Singapore, with IM Wong Meng Kong in the team, were only two places higher than us while the three teams we beat all ended below us.
The final standings: Bandung (Indonesia) 24.5 points; Mandaluyung (Philippines) 21.5 points; Manila 20.5 points; Ho Chi Minh City 19.5 points; Hongkong Island, Bekasi (Indonesia) and Dubai 17.5 points each; Bangkok and Yangon (Myanmar) 17 points each; Neyveli (India) 16.5 points; Phuket 16 points; Nagpur (India) 15.5 points; Singapore and Kowloon 15 points each; Penang 12 points; BIC Club 11.5 points; Macau 9 points; and Taipa 5 points.
MERDEKA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
I must say this about Chuah Heng Meng: upon returning from the Asian cities invitational team championship in Hongkong, he found himself embroiled in the Merdeka team chess championship in Kuala Lumpur.
That's chess stamina and dedication for you!
Chuah joined the Penang team - defending the Deputy Prime Minister's trophy in the State section of the championship - in Kuala Lumpur but it was soon clear enough that the trophy would be beyond Penang's grasp this year.
Except for two 4-0 results in the first and final rounds, enough points were denied to the Penang team in the five rounds in between and on tie-break, the state could do no better than fourth.
The winner was Selangor, although it was in a controversial manner when they were accused of fixing the results of their last-round match against Kelantan. The big loser was Johor who was leading going into the final round only to see Selangor chalking a 4-0 win while they themselves fell 1-3 to Sarawak.
Terengganu was also justifiably unhappy because instead of their third placing, they could have ended up second or even first, depending on which way the games were decided.
In the youth section, the Merdeka Youth challenge trophy was won by the Penang youth team which carved out a narrow victory ahead of MSS Selangor. Only half a point separated the two teams at the end of the tournament. Third was Selangor.
Finally, the open section was won by Tan & Tan Sdn Bhd which fielded players like Jimmy Liew, Mok Tze Meng and Lee Soi Hock in the team. A very sporting Dato' Tan Chin Nam was one of the players from the team. Second was Singapore's Cairnhill Community Council and third was Chess Wanderers, also from the island republic.
The annual Merdeka team chess championship was organised by the Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia. The event was played at the Wisma Belia in Kuala Lumpur, which was also the venue of this year's Malaysian Chess Federation annual general meeting on Sept 1.
GAME OF THE WEEK
This week sees the start of the Professional Chess Association's version of the world chess championship match between defending champion Gary Kasparov and his challenger, Viswanathan Anand, in New York.
Four games will be played each week for five weeks.
Last weekend in London, the Intel world chess grand prix tournament was won by England's Michael Adams who beat Alexey Dreev in the finals.
Michael Adams - Alexey Dreev
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1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nd2 c5, 4. exd5 Qxd5, 5. Ngf3 cxd4, 6. Bc4 Qd8, 7. O-O a6, 8. Nb3 Qc7, 9. Bd3 Nc6, 10. Nbxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bd6, 12. h3 Ne7, 13. Re1 O-O, 14. Qh5 Ng6, 15. Nf3 b5, 16. Be3 Be7, 17. a4 b4, 18. a5 Bb7, 19. Ng5 Bxg5, 20. Qxg5 Qc6, 21. Bb6 f5, 22. f3 Rae8, 23. Rad1 Rf6, 24. b3 Nf8, 25. Qf4 Rg6, 26. Kh2 Nd7, 27. Bc4 Nxb6, 28. axb6 Qxb6, 29. Re2 Qc5, 30. Qd6 Qc8, 31. Rde1 Kf7, 32. Re5 Rf6, 33. Rc5 Qb8, 34. Bxe6+ Kg6, 35. Bxf5+ Kh6, 36. Qxb8 Rxb8, 37. Bd3 g6, 38. Re7 Bc6, 39. g4 1-0
08 September 1995
Latest on the local scene
It has been a long fortnight for me. After being out of the country for a week, I returned to find a lot of local news waiting for me to catch up on.
My first report is on the MSSM individual and team chess championships which were held in Arau, Perlis from Aug 21 to 26.
The team section consisted of two tournaments for the under-20 and the under-12 age-groups. The under-20 team event was won by Penang which collected 35 points. Second was Selangor (32.5 points) and third Malacca (31.5 points). Fourth-placed among the 12 participating teams was Johor with 27 points.
The five board prizes for this team event went to Teng Wei Ping (Penang), Ng Siew Cheok (Negri Sembilan), Ng Lan Tyii (Malacca), Ng Ee Vern (Selangor) and Lau Kar Wooi (Penang).
In the under-12 event, Johor was the champion with 31 points while Penang was the runners-up with 29.5 points. Third was Selangor (29 points) and fourth Perak (21 points).
The winners of the board prizes in this section were Sow Tien Yu (Johor), Liong Wei Li (Johor), Kamaril Ariffin (Selangor), Shafiruddin (Negri Sembilan) and Mohd Dziyaul Hafidh (Perlis).
The individual section saw six events held simultaneously. The boys' under-20 title was retained by Ooi Chern Ee (Penang) who scored seven points from seven games. There was a three-way for the second to fourth places between Lee Wee Peng (Johor), Toh Seng Joe (Terengganu) and Mohd Fairin Zakaria (Negri Sembilan) who each scored five points.
The girls' under-20 event was also played over seven rounds and it was won by Eliza Hanim Ibrahim (Selangor) with maximum points. Mizan (Kelantan), Zeti Ajemi (Kedah) and Loh Poh Ping (FT) each scored six points to finish joint second to fourth.
The under-15 events were newly introduced this year to fill a pressing gap between the under-20 and under-12 age-groups. The boys' under-15 event was won by Mas Hafizulhelmi (Kelantan) who won all his eight games. Second was Wong Zi Jing (KL) with 6.5 points, third was Mohd Haizal (Selangor) with six points and fourth was Mak Weng Yee (Selangor) with 5.5 points.
The girls' under-15 event was won by Samantha Lee Heng Jun (Selangor) while second was Roslina Marmono (Selangor). Third was Farhana Husiny (Negri Sembilan) and fourth was Seri Merdlana (Johor).
The boys' under-12 event was won by Lim Chuin Hoong (Penang) who obtained maximum points from seven games. Ali Ajemi (Kedah) was second with 5.5 points, Mohd Syaiful Ali (Kelantan) and Rustam Ikmal (Pahang) were third with five points each.
For the girls' under-12 section, the joint winners were Siti Fadlitina (Kedah) and Loh Poh Choo (FT), each scoring 6* points. Behind them on six points were Lim Jean Nie (Penang) and Nor Shafawati (Kedah).
Meanwhile in Petaling Jaya, the six-round Total Chess under-12 quickplay rating tournament on Aug 13 attracted 34 players including seven girls. The youngest player in the field was Tan Zhi Yi who was five years 11 months' old.
The winner was 10-year-old Hazril Husain who, despite falling violently ill during the tournament, scored 5.5 points to win himself some magazines worth more than RM60.
Second was Hoo Chin Khang who obtained five points, and in joint third to sixth places were Wong Zi Chuang, Ng Kian Yee, Low Kok Wai and Low Kar Mun who finished the tournament with 4.5 points each.
Some other Total Chess quickplay tournaments coming soon in the Klang Valley are a under-12 event this Sunday at the Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan China Kepong and an open tournament on Sept 17 at the Total Chess premises in Petaling Jaya.
For more details on these Total Chess events, contact Joseph Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Last month, a Category 16 tournament in memory of one of the Netherland's most prominent grandmasters, Jan Heim Donner, who died several years ago was organised in Amsterdam.
The tournament ended with two grandmasters tied for the top honours: Dutchman Jan Timman and the Peruvian player Julio Granda Zuniga. On tie-break, however, Timman was declared winner.
This meant that Timman has managed to put a miserable year behind him. His other recent tournament results had been rather poor, for example, in July when he played in the annual grandmaster tournament in Biel, Switzerland, he finished 13th in a field of 14 players.
In Amsterdam, Timman bounced back with a vengeance and in the last round he beat Granda Zuniga who, if not for this loss, would have been the outright winner. Still, this event was one of the Peruvian's best tournament results.
Russian grandmaster Alexander Morozevich showed why he is regarded as one of the most exciting players in the world. He drew only two games throughout the tournament and his remaining nine games were always decisive. He impressed onlookers with his all-round tactical ability.
The final standings: Jan Timman (Netherlands) and Julio Granda Zuniga (Peru) 7.5 points each; Judit Polgar (Hungary) 7 points; Alexander Huzman (Ukraine), Yasser Seirawan (USA) and Alexei Shirov (Spain) 6 points each; Alexander Khalifman (Russia), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), John Nunn (England) and Valery Salov (Russia) 5 points each; Jeroen Piket (Netherlands) and Loek van Wely (Netherlands) 3 points each.
Here are crucial games from the event:
Jan Timman - Julio Granda Zuniga
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1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 dxe4, 4. Nxe4 Nd7, 5. Nf3 Be7, 6. Bd3 Ngf6, 7. Qe2 c5, 8. Nxf6+ Bxf6, 9. d5 Nb6, 10. Bb5+ Kf8, 11. dxe6 Bxe6, 12. a4 a6, 13. Bd3 Qc7, 14. O-O Re8, 15. a5 Nd7, 16. Re1 Re7, 17. Qe4 c4, 18. Bf1 Nc5, 19. Qf4 Qxf4, 20. Bxf4 Rd7, 21. Be3 Rc7, 22. Bf4 Rc8, 23. Bd6+ Kg8, 24. Ne5 h5, 25. Nxc4 Bxc4, 26. Bxc4 Bxb2, 27. Rad1 Rh6, 28. Bxc5 Rxc5, 29. Re8+ Kh7, 30. Bxf7 Rf6, 31. Bd5 Rxa5, 32. Be4+ g6, 33. Rd7+ Kh6, 34. h4 Ra1+, 35. Kh2 Rf4, 36. f3 Rxh4+, 37. Kg3 Rah1, 38. Re6 Rxe4, 39. Rxe4 Bc3, 40. Rxb7 Be1+, 41. Kf4 Bd2+, 42. Ke5 a5, 43. Kf6 Rh2, 44. Re2 Bc3+, 45. Kf7 Rh4, 46. Re4 Rxe4, 47. fxe4 Kg5, 48. Rc7 1-0
Judit Polgar - Alexei Shirov
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1. e4 g6, 2. d4 Bg7, 3. Nc3 c6, 4. Bc4 d6, 5. Qf3 e6, 6. Nge2 b5, 7. Bb3 a5, 8. a3 Ba6, 9. d5 cxd5, 10. exd5 e5, 11. Ne4 Qc7, 12. c4 bxc4, 13. Ba4+ Nd7, 14. N2c3 Ke7, 15. Nxd6 Qxd6, 16. Ne4 Qxd5, 17. Bg5+ Ndf6, 18. Rd1 Qb7, 19. Rd7+ Qxd7, 20. Bxd7 h6, 21. Qd1 1-0
Alexander Morozevich - Jeroen Piket
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1. e4 d6, 2. d4 Nf6, 3. Nc3 g6, 4. Nf3 Bg7, 5. h3 c6, 6. a4 O-O, 7. Be3 a5, 8. Nd2 Na6, 9. Be2 c5, 10. dxc5 Nxc5, 11. e5 Ne8, 12. exd6 Bxc3, 13. Bxc5 exd6, 14. Ba3 Bb4, 15. c3 Bxa3, 16. Rxa3 Nf6, 17. O-O d5, 18. Nf3 Re8, 19. Bd3 Bd7, 20. Bc2 Ra6, 21. Qd4 Rae6, 22. Bd3 Bc6, 23. Raa1 Ne4, 24. Rad1 Qe7, 25. Bc2 b5, 26. Qb6 bxa4, 27. Nd4 Qc5, 28. Qc7 Rf6, 29. f3 Re7, 30. Qc8+ Re8, 31. Qg4 Nd6, 32. Kh1 Nc4, 33. Qg5 Rd6, 34. Rde1 Rdd8, 35. f4 Qd6, 36. Nf5 f6, 37. Rxe8+ Bxe8, 38. Qg3 Qf8, 39. Re1 Kh8, 40. Qh4 gxf5, 41. Bxf5 Rd7, 42. Re6 Rg7, 43. Rxf6 Qe7, 44. Be6 Nd6, 45. Bxd5 Bc6, 46. Rxd6 0-1
Loek van Wely - Alexander Morozevich
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1. d4 d5, 2. c4 Nc6, 3. Nc3 dxc4, 4. Nf3 Nf6, 5. e4 Bg4, 6. Be3 e6, 7. Bxc4 Bb4, 8. Qc2 O-O, 9. Rd1 Ne7, 10. Be2 Bxc3+, 11. bxc3 c5, 12. O-O Qc7, 13. Qb1 b6, 14. h3 Bh5, 15. g4 Bg6, 16. Bd3 Rfd8, 17. Ne5 Qb7, 18. f3 cxd4, 19. cxd4 Rac8, 20. Rc1 Rxc1, 21. Rxc1 Nd7, 22. Nxd7 Qxd7, 23. Qb5 Qd6, 24. Kg2 h6, 25. h4 f5, 26. gxf5 exf5, 27. Qc4+ Kh7, 28. d5 Re8, 29. Re1 fxe4, 30. fxe4 Qd7, 31. Kg3 h5, 32. Kf2 Qh3, 33. Ke2 Nf5, 34. Kd2 Nd6, 35. Qc6 Nxe4+, 36. Bxe4 Rxe4, 37. d6 Qg2+, 38. Kc1 Qxa2, 39. Kd1 Rc4 0-1
Julio Granda Zuniga - John Nunn
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1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 g6, 3. Nc3 Bg7, 4. e4 d6, 5. Be2 O-O, 6. Nf3 e5, 7. O-O Nc6, 8. d5 Ne7, 9. b4 Nh5, 10. c5 Nf4, 11. Bc4 Bg4, 12. h3 Bh5, 13. Re1 a5, 14. Rb1 Nc8, 15. a3 axb4, 16. axb4 Kh8, 17. Bf1 f5, 18. exf5 gxf5, 19. Bxf4 exf4, 20. Nb5 dxc5, 21. bxc5 c6, 22. Nbd4 Qxd5, 23. Rxb7 Ra7, 24. Rxa7 Nxa7, 25. Ne6 Bxf3, 26. gxf3 Rg8, 27. Qxd5 cxd5, 28. Rd1 Nc6, 29. Kh1 d4, 30. Bb5 Rc8, 31. Nxf4 Na7, 32. Bd7 Rxc5, 33. Re1 Re5, 34. Ra1 d3, 35. Rxa7 d2, 36. Ba4 Bh6, 37. Nh5 1-0
Judit Polgar - Loek van Wely
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1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 a6, 6. f4 e6, 7. Qf3 Qb6, 8. Nb3 Qc7, 9. g4 b5, 10. g5 b4, 11. Nb5 axb5, 12. gxf6 Nd7, 13. Bxb5 gxf6, 14. f5 Ke7, 15. Bxd7 Bxd7, 16. fxe6 fxe6, 17. Rf1 Bb5, 18. Qxf6+ Kd7, 19. Qxh8 Be7, 20. Qxa8 Qc4, 21. Qb7+ Ke8, 22. Rf2 Bh4, 23. Qf7+ Kd8, 24. Bg5+ 1-0
Introduction
A very good day if you have found your way to this blog. Hello, I am Quah Seng Sun. I am known to some of my friends as SS Quah. A great par...

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This one-off story, written some six years after my column stopped, commemorated a friend who had been associated with the game almost as lo...
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A very good day if you have found your way to this blog. Hello, I am Quah Seng Sun. I am known to some of my friends as SS Quah. A great par...