The players' choice

Though choices confront chess players these days as various organisers do their best to woo them to take part in their tournaments. In Penang for instance, readers are reminded that the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge & Chess Club will hold its second USM national open tournament from Dec 1 to 3.

This three-day event will be held over eight rounds using a one-hour time control for each player every game. Ten attractive cash prizes totalling RM3,250 are lined up for the participants and the winner will receive RM1,000.

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 is Nov 25.

Nov 25 is also the closing date for entries to the Malaysian Chess Federation's national men and women closed championship, which will be played from Nov 28 to Dec 3 at the Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal.

This will be a nine-round event with the winner of the men's section awarded the Datuk Hussein Onn challenge trophy and the winner of the women's section receiving the Dato Sabbaruddin Chik trophy.

In addition, Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal is giving trophies for the most promising under-18 male and female players.

Readers should consult their own MCF-affiliated chess associations if they wish to represent their association in the championship. Otherwise, they can enter the competition independently on their own.

For more information, contact Abdul Hamid Majid (tel: 03-421-9576), Ibrahim Abu Bakar (03-5595442) or Ibrahim Yaacob (03-636-3082) after 6pm.

The results of the men's section are traditionally used as a criterion for choosing players for various international chess tournaments. The main event that comes to mind is the biennial Chess Olympiad which is scheduled for next year.

JOHOR CLOSE BEGINS TODAY

The Johor closed tournament begins this afternoon in Johor Bahru.

Organised by the Johor Chess Club, the top winners from this tournament will represent the state at this year's national closed championship in Kuala Lumpur later in the month.

The Johor tournament is played over six rounds using Rapid-90 chess rules. The first round starts at 7pm this evening, and two rounds will be played tomorrow at 2.30pm and 7pm. On Sunday, the games will begin at 8.30am, 1.30pm and 6pm.

Entry fees are RM10 for adults and RM5 for women and players who are under the age of 18. There will be eight prizes for the men's section, six prizes for the best under-18 players, and two prizes offered for the women's section.

The club will also organise an open tournament but this will be held on Dec 31 and Jan 1 to usher in the new year.

For more details into these events, especially today's Johor closed tournament, contact KL Cheong (07-333-9636) or Sumati (07-332-4366) immediately.

Another Johor Chess Club activity is a chess carnival which ends this Sunday at the Pelangi Leisure Mall along Jalan Serampang in Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru.

Daily activities include free chess lessons for beginners and children, a simultaneous chess display by Singaporean international master Giam Choo Kwee, daily blitz tournaments and weekend Rapid-30 events, and an exhibition of chess books and equipment.

KASPAROV DETHRONED

Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk and Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik were jointly placed first in the final leg of this year's Professional Chess Association Classics tournament which was played in Horgen, Switzerland, earlier this month.

This was a Category 17 tournament and Ivanchuk started with a loss to England's Nigel Short in the very first round; but then he followed up with four consecutive wins which included a humiliation of Gary Kasparov in the sixth round.

Kasparov seemed badly prepared for this tournament or he had yet to recover fully from the successful defence of his PCA world championship title last month. His only win in the event was against veteran Viktor Korchnoi and with a 50 per cent score, he had to be satisfied with fifth place.

This was without doubt Kasparov's worst performance since becoming the world champion 10 years ago, and some preliminary calculations suggested that he might have lost his top World Chess Federation ranking to Anatoly Karpov after this event.

Holland's Jan Timman again showed fluctuating form by finishing last in the 11-player field.

Final standings: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 7 points each; Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia) and Nigel Short (England) 6 points each; Gary Kasparov 5 points; Boris Gulko (USA), Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) and Artur Yusupov (Germany) 4 1/2 points each; Joel Lautier (France) 4 points; Rafael Vaganian (Armenia) 3 1/2 points; and Jan Timman (Netherlands) 3 points.

Nigel Short - Vassily Ivanchuk

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 Qc7 8. h4 Bd7 9. h5 h6 10. Bd3 Ba4 11. dxc5 Nd7 12. Rh4 Qa5 13. Be3 Rc8 14. Rb1 Bc6 15. Qd2 Qxa3 16. Rg4 Kf8 17. Rbb4 Nf5 18. Bxf5 exf5 19. Rgf4 Qa1+ 20. Qd1 Qxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Re8 22. Rxf5 Kg8 23. Rg4 Re7 24. Rg3 Kh7 25. Bd4 Rhe8 26. Rf4 Nf8 27. Rfg4 g5 28. hxg6+ Nxg6 29. Rh3 Bd7 30. Ng5+ Kg8 31. e6 Bxe6 32. Nxe6 Rxe6 33. Rxh6 Re1+ 34. Kd2 R8e2+ 35. Kd3 Kf8 36. Rh5 Re4 37. Rxe4 dxe4+ 38. Kd2 Rb1 39. c6 bxc6 40. Bxa7 Ke7 41. Bd4 Rb5 42. Rxb5 cxb5 43. c4 bxc4 44. Kc3 Nf4 45. g3 Ne6 46. Kxc4 Kd6 47. Bf6 Kc6 48. g4 Kd6 49. c3 Kc6 50. Be5 Nc5 51. Kd4 Nd3 52. Bg3 Nc5 53. Bf4 1-0

Gary Kasparov - Vassily Ivanchuk

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 5. a3 Bf8 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. h4 h6 8. h5 a5 9. Bb5+ c6 10. Ba4 Nd7 11. Ne2 b5 12. Bb3 c5 13. c3 Nc6 14. O-O Qc7 15. Re1 c4 16. Bc2 Nb6 17. Bf4 Be7 18. Bg3 Rb8 19. Nh2 Qd8 20. Ng4 b4 21. axb4 axb4 22. cxb4 Nxb4 23. Bb1 Bd7 24. b3 Ra8 25. Rxa8 Qxa8 26. bxc4 Nxc4 27. Nc1 Ba4 28. Qe2 Qa7 29. Ne3 Qxd4 30. Nxc4 dxc4 31. Qf1 O-O 0-1

Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gulko

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O O-O 7. d3 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bf4 Re8 10. Nb5 Na6 11. Rc1 c6 12. Nbd4 Bc5 13. a3 Nh5 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. e3 Nf6 16. Bc3 Nc7 17. b4 Bd6 18. Qc2 Rac8 19. Qb2 Re7 20. Nh4 c5 21. Ndf5 Re6 22. Nxd6 Rxd6 23. bxc5 Rc6 24. Nf3 Rxc5 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Rxc5 1-0

Vladimir Kramnik - Nigel Short

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bf5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Be7 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bg3 O-O 9. Be2 Bb4 10. Qc1 Bd6 11. O-O Bxg3 12. hxg3 Qd6 13. Nd2 Bg6 14. Bf3 Nce7 15. Rd1 c6 16. Nc4 Qc7 17. e4 Nb6 18. Ne5 Rac8 19. Qe3 Rfd8 20. Rac1 Qb8 21. Be2 Nd7 22. f4 b5 23. b4 a5 24. a3 axb4 25. axb4 f6 26. Nxg6 hxg6 27. d5 exd5 28. exd5 Nf5 29. Qf2 c5 30. Nxb5 Nd6 31. bxc5 Nxb5 32. c6 Nd6 33. cxd7 Rxc1 34. Rxc1 Rxd7 35. Bd3 Kf7 36. Rc6 Qb3 37. Qf3 Qb7 38. Qe3 Re7 39. Qb6 Qxb6+ 40. Rxb6 Rd7 41. Kf2 Nc8 42. Rb8 Nd6 43. Rb6 Nc8 44. Rc6 Ne7 45. Bc4 Kf8 46. Rc5 Rd8 47. Ra5 Nf5 48. Bd3 Ne7 49. Be4 Kf7 50. Ke3 Rd7 51. Rc5 Nf5+ 52. Kf2 Ra7 53. g4 Nd6 54. Bc2 f5 55. Rc6 Ke7 56. gxf5 gxf5 57. Ke3 Ra3+ 58. Bd3 Kd7 59. Kd4 Ra1 60. Bc2 Rf1 61. Ra6 Rf2 62. Ra7+ Ke8 63. Ba4+ Kf8 64. g3 Rf3 65. Rd7 Nf7 66. Rc7 Rxg3 67. Rc8+ 1-0

Nigel Short - Viktor Korchnoi

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Bd7 7. Bb3 g6 8. h3 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Qd3 b5 12. a3 a5 13. Bg5 Rb8 14. Rfe1 a4 15. Ba2 b4 16. axb4 Rxb4 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Rxb2 19. Nxf6+ exf6 20. Qxd6 Bb5 21. Qxd8 Rxd8 22. Reb1 Rxb1+ 23. Rxb1 Bc6 24. f3 Kf8 25. Rb6 Rc8 26. Ra6 Be8 27. Rxf6 Rxc2 28. Bd5 g5 29. Ra6 h5 30. Ra7 h4 31. Kh2 Rb2 32. Kg1 Rb6 33. Kf2 f6 34. f4 Rb2+ 35. Kf3 gxf4 36. Rh7 a3 37. Ra7 Bh5+ 38. Kxf4 Rf2+ 39. Ke3 Rxg2 40. Kd4 Rg3 41. Rh7 Bg6 42. Rxh4 Kg7 43. Bc4 Rg5 44. Rf4 Ra5 45. Rf2 Ra4 46. Kc3 Bxe4 47. Kb3 Ra8 48. Ra2 Rh8 49. Rxa3 Rxh3+ 50. Kb4 Rh4 51. Rg3+ Kh6 52. Kc3 f5 53. Rg8 f4 54. Rh8+ Kg5 55. Rxh4 Kxh4 56. Be2 Kg3 57. Kd2 Bf3 58. Bc4 Bg4 59. Bd5 Bh3 60. Be4 Bg2 61. Bd3 f3 62. Ke3 f2 63. Bc4 Bd5 64. Bf1 Bc6 0-1

Gary Kasparov - Viktor Korchnoi

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 Bb4 8. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. O-O Nxe4 11. Ne5 Nd7 12. Qg4 g5 13. Qxe4 Nxe5 14. dxe5 gxh4 15. Rab1 h3 16. Rfd1 Rg8 17. g3 Rg5 18. f4 Rg8 19. Bf1 Qxc3 20. Bxh3 f5 21. Qe2 Kf8 22. Qh5 Qc5+ 23. Kh1 Qe7 24. Rd6 Kg7 25. Bxf5 Qf7 26. Qxf7+ Kxf7 27. Bxe6+ 1-0

Boris Gulko - Viktor Korchnoi

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. d3 Bxc3 8. bxc3 e4 9. Nd4 d6 10. Bg5 exd3 11. exd3 Nxd4 12. cxd4 h6 13. Be3 Bg4 14. Qb3 Rb8 15. h3 Bf5 16. Rae1 b5 17. cxb5 Bd7 18. a4 a6 19. d5 axb5 20. a5 Qc8 21. Kh2 Qa6 22. Ra1 b4 23. Rfc1 Rec8 24. Rc4 c5 25. dxc6 Be6 26. Bb6 Bxc4 27. dxc4 Rxb6 28. axb6 Qxb6 29. Qe3 Qxe3 30. fxe3 Rb8 31. c7 1-0