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
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