Young warriors

It is common knowledge that schools are the breeding ground for budding chess players, where chess receives the greatest support. Take for example, the SRK Sri Aman in Kampung Melayu, Penang. A visitor to the school would soon learn that chess playing is a very popular pastime among the school children.

Where else would you meet children who, before lessons begin in the morning, gather around chess boards in the school canteen? At the ring of the bell, they exchange their chess sets for their text books but invariably, the sets reappear during recess.

Thanks to this obsession with the game, Sri Aman has produced chess players successfully for the MSSPP chess team every year.

The school has also produced state champions in the boys' and girls' under-12 sections. Players like Kelvin Khoo, Eoh Thean Keat, Linda Low, Rubaizah Basir and Ching Ai Hooi have all gone on to encourage chess during their secondary school years.

According to the Sri Aman chess teacher, Eoh Hook Kim, chess playing is encouraged for the main reason that chess instills discipline of the mind. This, he said, is a quality which is worth emulating everywhere.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

October and November are two of the quietest months for local chess players. Organisers are quite loathe to hold any tournament during this period because of the end-of-year school examinations.

Action will resume, so to speak, only at the end of next month.

National Closed

For seven days beginning Nov 27, the Malaysian Chess Federation will stage its annual national closed championships for men and women.

Like in previous years, the Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal is expected to be the sponsor for this event which shall be a nine-round Swiss. The various chess associations which are affiliates of the MCF will be eligible to send six players - four men and two women - each for the championship.

Previous national champions and certain selected players like the MSSM winners are likely to be granted automatic entry into the championship and if past precedences are anything to go by, the MCF will even allow wild card entries by players who directly write to the federation.

Although the monetary rewards for this event are modest, the intangible rewards such as the national master title and the chance for the top players to be selected for international events have been alluring.

USM Open

This year, however, at almost the same time as the national closed championship, the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge and Chess Club will be organising its second USM national open tournament in Penang from Dec 1.

This is a three-day event. Ten prizes totalling RM3,250 are lined up for the participants and the winner will receive RM1,000. Second prize is RM750, third is RM500, fourth RM300 and fifth RM200. The sixth to 10th prizes will be RM100 each.

Entry fees are RM20 for students and RM30 for the public. To register, contact Ms Chew Siew Imm (04-657-7253) after 8pm. Closing date for entries has been extended to Nov 25 so readers interested in playing in this event can still register with the organisers without having to pay any late fees.

Asian team meet

From Dec 12 to 23, the Asian team championship will be played in Singapore.

As usual, selection of players to international events is the sole prerogative of the Malaysian Chess Federation and it is expected that the selection will be announced at the end of the national closed championship.

The last Asian team championship was held at Universiti Malaya two years ago and at that time, the entry of teams from the central Asian countries into the championship gave the event a new perspective.

It remains to be seen whether countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will still dominate this time or whether the East Asian countries like China, Philippines and Indonesia can regain their past grandeur.

Malaysia-Singapore

Finally, one other event planned for this year is the second leg of the annual Malaysia-Singapore match.

The first leg was played in Kuala Lumpur in July and the second leg will be in Singapore. The dates are Dec 29 and 30.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

The final two games of the Professional Chess Association World Championship match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand in New York.

Anand - Kasparov, Game 17

1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 d6, 3.d4 cxd4, 4.Nxd4 Nf6, 5.Nc3 g6, 6.Be3 Bg7, 7.f3 0-0, 8.Qd2 Nc6, 9.Bc4 Bd7, 10.h4 h5, 11.Bb3 Rc8, 12.0-0-0 Ne5, 13.Bg5 (This is the most aggressive plan in this line of the Sicilian Dragon) 13...Rc5, 14.Kb1 Re8, 15.Rhe1! Qa5, 16.a3 (More usually played at this point is 16 f4) 16...b5, 17.Bxf6 exf6, 18.Nde2 Rc6, 19.Nd5 Qxd2, 20.Rxd2 Nc4, 21.Bxc4 bxc4, 22.Red1 f5 23.exf5 (Black has no worries after 23 Nb4 Rb6 24 Rxd6 Rxd6 25 Rxd6 fxe4 26 fxe4 Bg4, etc) 23...Bxf5, 24.Nd4 Bxd4, 25.Rxd4 Re2, 26.R4d2 Rxd2, 27.Rxd2 Kf8, 28.Kc1? (28 Nb4! Rb6 29 Rd5 Bc8 30 Ra5 a6 31 Kc1 Rb5 32 Rxb5 axb5 33 Kd2 Ke7 34 Ke3 Ke6 35 Kd4 would have given White some winning chances) 28...Be6, 29.Rd4 Bxd5, 30.Rxd5 Ke7, 31.Rb5 Ke6, 32.Rb7 Rc5? (Instead of this move, Black should have played 32...a6 33 Kd2 c3+ 34.bxc3 Rd5+ followed by ...Rc5-a5 when the position is about equal) 33.Rxa7 g5, 34.Ra8 gxh4, 35.Re8+ Kd7, 36.Re4! (From this square, the rook is well placed to go to either side of the ! board) 36...c3 (The only move whi h allows Black to trade off a weakness. White will win after 36...Rg5 37 Rxc4 Rxg2 38 Rxh4, etc) 37.Rxh4? (Winning is 37 b4 Rg5 38 Rxh4 Rxg2 39 Kb1 when the connected passed pawns decide) 37...cxb2+, 38.Kxb2 Rg5, 39.a4 f5, 40.a5 (Preferred is 40 Kb3) 40...f4!,41.a6 Kc7,42.Rxf4 Rxg2,43.Rf7+ Kb8!, 44.Kc3 h4,45.Kd3 Rf2,46.c4 (This move was widely criticised by the grandmasters watching the match. Better was 46.c3 or 46.Ke4) 46...Ra2 47.Ke4 Rxa6 (The removal of this pawn means that the Black НКking can crawl back along the eighth rank to stop the f3-pawn.) 48.Rh7 Ra5, 49.f4 Kc8, 50.f5 Kd8, 51.Kf4 Rc5, 52.Kg5 Rxc4, 53.Kg6 Rg4+, 54.Kf7 d5, 55.f6 Kd7, 56.Kf8+ Ke6, 57.f7 Rf4, 58.Kg8 d4, 59.f8=Q Rxf8+, 60.Kxf8 Ke5, 61.Rxh4 d3, 62.Rh3 Ke4, 63.Rxd3 1/2-1/2 (This was a tough game for Kasparov. It was the longest game in the match and the draw did not come easy. But when it came, it enabled Kasparov to reach 10 points and retain his title.)

Kasparov - Anand, Game 18

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.Bf3 1/2\1/2 (A very anti-climatic end to an engrossing match. For Kasparov, it meant winning the lion's share of the prize money, US$1 million (RM2.5 million), and for Anand, US$500,000 (RM1.25 million) has made him a very rich man in India.)