Chess on the Net

Christmas has come and gone, and another new year looms before us. This being a holiday season, it is perhaps appropriate for me to take a short rest from writing about tournaments or chess politics or chess personalities and relate to you on another subject which is rather close to my heart.

I am referring to the world-wide internet community and well, it is now close to two years since I began surfing the Net. It was not so much as keeping up with the Joneses but rather, my purpose in using the Internet stemmed from a practical need to see whether there were any chess-related resources.

So far, I have not been disappointed. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised at the ever-increasing wealth of information which I have been able to garner from this remarkable source.

When I first joined the Jaring network, I could dare claim to be the one and only local chess player with a private Internet account. Today, however, there are quite a handful of local chess players who are members of Jaring.

Indeed, I know of friends and close acquaintances, even people who were strangers to me, who e-mailed me to announce their electronic presence.

So what type of chess resources are available on the Net? The very basic of resources is the Usenet or newsgroups which are actually global electronic bulletin boards where people give their opinions freely on almost every conceivable topic under the sun.

Everybody with an Internet account can subscribe to newsgroups and they are free. Unfortunately, the noise ratio for most newsgroups is rather high and one must learn to separate fact from fiction.

Originally, there was only one newsgroup for chess - rec.games.chess - where a hodge-podge of chess discussion took place. About six months ago, this newsgroup was split into five different sub-divisions.

Like the name suggests, the rec.games.chess.politics newsgroup is confined to people discussing chess politics. Recently, when the World Chess Federation (FIDE) held its general assembly meeting in Paris, I first learnt of the ouster of former FIDE president, Florencio Campomanes, through this newsgroup.

Are you interested in correspondence chess? You know, the type of chess where players use the postal services to mail their moves to their opponents in various parts of the world? It is a very slow process when you consider that a simple letter from here to Europe may take a week to arrive. That's why in Internet jargon, postal mail is often referred to as snail mail.

The Internet takes correspondence chess one step further and the rec.games.chess.play-by-email newsgroup is the place for correspondence chess players to hang around. Here, you have people talking about e-mail chess.

The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) have completely embraced e-mail chess. Through its association with the Internet Electronic Chess Group (IECG), you can actually play e-mail correspondence chess with other people around the world.

To join the IECG, e-mail Franz Hemmer at franz@hemsoft.ping.dk and request him to pair you with another person. An alternate person to contact is Henk Chang at iecg@cc.umanitoba.ca.

When playing e-mail chess, the moves and even ascii chess diagrams are sent through the Internet.

There are various rates of play but whatever the rate you choose with your opponent, at the end of every two-game match (you play one game as White and one as Black against every opponent) the results are reported to the IECG administrator who will then rate your results and push you up or down their rating list.

I was so crazy about e-mail chess at one stage that I had something like 20 games going on simultaneously!

At one point too, I even tried my hands at playing real-time chess through the Internet but you will need a popular Telnet program for connection to one of several chess servers around the world.

Most of these chess servers are free but there is one, the Internet Chess Club (ICC), which charges people for joining them. Paradoxically, the ICC is the most popular of the chess servers.

On a typical day, you may watch or even get to play with grandmasters. Roman Dzindzihashvilli, Viswanathan Anand and Peter Margeir have been known to drop by the ICC regularly. Earlier this month, Gary Kasparov even played 10 players simultaneously through the ICC.

Chess playing programs like Deep Thought and Chess Genius also make regular appearances, basically because their programmers would like to try out their software or hardware enhancements in actual games against humans.

If playing real-time chess with another person from another part of the world appeals to you, Telnet then to the ICC at chess.lm.com 5000. A free chess server is ics.chess.com 5000.

Before the World-Wide Web (WWW) really took off in popularity last year, the downloading of chess material via the internet was primarily achieved by File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

The chess site at caissa.onenet.net is unfortunately quite dated and new material are seldom posted there any more. However, internet chess players now have an alternative site, ftp.pitt.edu.

This new site is located at the University of Pittsburgh and new chess files are added almost weekly. There are games databases in several formats like ChessBase, Chess Assistant and NICBase.

Players who need chess programmes often come to this site too to search for their programmes. For instance, there are demonstration or crippled copies of Chess Assistant and even that of the latest ChessBase for Windows. Lately, you can even retrieve the strong Rebel 6.0 chessplaying program.

The software houses do not mind offering their crippled programs to the Internet community at large because they know that if you are really interest in any programme after the trial period, you will not mind paying the full price for the uncrippled version.

The downloading of chess resources is also possible through the World-Wide Web. For this, you shall need a typical browser program like Netscape or Mosaic. Most web pages, however, were developed using Netscape so those people using Mosaic may experience some difficulty with the on-screen graphics.

There are countless chess sites in the Web - certainly more than I can mention here - but three notable ones are:

http://www.pitt.edu/group/chess - the web version of the Pittsburg FTP site;

http://www.easynet.co.uk/pages/worldchess - you can find chess articles from several British newspapers and magazines like The Guardian and Spectator;

http://www.grandmaster.bc.ca the Web site for International Chess Enterprises, the publisher of Yasser Seirawan's popular Inside Chess magazine.

The beauty of these chess Web pages is that they often point you to other chess resources in the Internet, such as http://www.redweb.com/chess.

I have always recommended people new to the Internet to point their browser to http://www/yahoo.com. Now, this Yahoo site is a computer in California which displays something like a gigantic menu to visitors. Just choose "recreation" and wander around. You will reach the pointers to chess sooner or later.

Alternatively, you can easily access the chess Web pages by doing a search on the word "chess". For example, the Lycos Web page, http://www.lycos.com provides an ideal engine to begin your search.

I hope this short introduction has awaken some interest in you on the various resources available through the Internet.

Recognition at long last

Finally, chess received its just rewards from the Majlis Sukan Negeri Pulau Pinang.

In a breakthrough development for the Penang Chess Association, 16-year-old Ooi Chern Ee was picked as the recipient of the International Participation Award at the Penang State Sports Awards ceremony last week.

"We are very delighted with Ooi's success," said a beaming Dr Choong Sim Poey, president of the association.

"We have been nominating our people on their merits for the various awards for the past four years but we have never ever achieved the sort of success like what we have this year.

"Of course, the credit belongs entirely to Ooi because he has worked hard at the game and taken all the opportunities that came his way. The PCA happened to be there to provide him all the support he needed," said Dr Choong.

Ooi was one of 15 candidates nominated by the various sports bodies in Penang for the state's prestigious annual Sportsman Award.

Although he failed to lift this prize, he came away with the International Participation Award for his accomplishments in international sport events.

Last year, Ooi had taken part in three international chess events. The first was the world age-group individual chess championship in Szeged, Hungary, and the second was the Asian cities team chess championship in Kuala Lumpur.

But it was in the world team chess championship (popularly known as the Chess Olympiad) in Moscow that made him one of the most successful players in the Malaysian team.

Obviously, Ooi has impressed and convinced the judges sufficiently to enable him to walk away with the award at the presentation ceremony.

Until this year, chess had never featured highly in the books of the Majlis Sukan Negeri Pulau Pinang. Even today, chess still rates as a Category Three sport in the council which means that lesser weightage is given to chess when compared to the more popular or visible games which are placed in Categories One or Two.

"We have tried hard to get the Majlis to upgrade our status to at least Category Two but have not been successful. We will try again and perhaps on this occasion we may succeed," said Dr Choong.

STARTING OFF THE YEAR

Gerakan Youth will be organising a two-day chess competition at the Hotel Agora in MacAlister Road, Penang, next month.

This event features an international chess tournament as well as a Chinese chess tournament, to be run concurrently. Three rounds will be played on Jan 6 and four rounds on the following day.

The international chess section will involve the Penang Chess Association as the co-organiser while the Penang Chinese Chess Association will assist in running the Chinese chess section.

Eight prizes are offered in each of the two sections and the winner will receive RM500 and a challenge trophy.

The second prize is RM400, third prize RM300 and fourth prize RM200. The fifth to eighth-placed winners will get RM50 each.

Entry fee is RM5 and entries will officially close today.

If you need entry forms, they are available from Times Bookshop in Burmah Road, Penang.

For more information on the international chess section, contact Goh Yoon Wah in the evenings.

JOHOR BARU OPEN RESULTS

Three players tied for the top prizes in the open section of the Johor Baru open tournament which was played at the Bangunan Komtar in Johor Baru earlier this month.

Mok Tze Meng, Singaporean international master Giam Choo Kwee and Mohd Kamal Abdullah each scored 5 1/2 points and received RM533 in the six-round event which was jointly organised by the Johor State Economic Development Corporation and the Johor Baru District Chess Club.

Jopie, Joni Chin, Ong Chuan Hock, Sashidharan and Wan Ali Wan Manan each obtained five points to share the fourth to eighth prizes.

The ninth and tenth prizes went to Foong Chee Leng and Roger Yap. The two players scored 4 1/2 points.

In the under-16 section, the joint winners were Teh Hon Yoet, Alex Khoo and Tan Teh Hiang. Those with five points were Leong Chee Chong, Ting Tee Bee, Chen Bin Heng, Chai Wei Koong and Kiew Wan Siong, while three players - Liew Kiat Sing, Tey Arn Soon and Tan Chee Yeow - obtained 4 1/2 points each.

The under-12 section was won by Lim Seng Jiann who scored 5 1/2 points.

Behind him were Sin Yau Sin, Yee Kwan Yong, Azlan, Yap Son Pin and Tong Yat Pei who obtained five points each.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

It is a thoroughly Malaysian affair this week as I present some selected games from the national closed chess championship in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.

Lim Chuin Hoong - Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin

1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 e6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9.Rd1 Qc7 10.Bf4 Nf6 11.Rac1 0-0 12.Bb3 Qb8 13.e5 Nh5 14.Bg5 Bxg5 15.Nxg5 Nf4 16.Qe4 Ng6 17.exd6 Rd8 18.Qd3 Nce5 19.Qd2 Bd7 20.h3 Qa7 21.Kh2 h6 22.Nge4 Rac8 23.Na4 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Bc6 25.Nac5 b6 26.f4 bxc5 27.Nxc5 Nd7 28.Nxe6 fxe6 29.Bxe6+ Kh8 30.Rxc6 Ngf8 31.Bc4 Nb6 32.Qd4 Nfd7 33.Be6 Qa8 34.Rxb6 Nxb6 35.Qxb6 Qb8 36.Qxb8 Rxb8 37.d7 g6 38.b3 Kg7 39.g4 Kf6 40.f5 1-0

Mas Hafizul - Ghalam Sani

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f3 Bg7 5.Be3 0-0 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.h4 c5 8.d5 a6 9.Bh6 Re8 10.h5 Bxh6 11.Qxh6 Nxh5 12.Nge2 Nf8 13.g4 Ng7 14.0-0-0 b5 15.Ng3 b4 16.Nce2 e5 17.c4 bxc3 18.Nxc3 Rb8 19.Bd3 Qf6 20.Nf5 Nxf5 21.exf5 Qg7 22.Ne4 Qxh6+ 23.Rxh6 Rd8 24.Rdh1 Bb7 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.g5 Bc8 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.Rh8 1-0

Mohd Saprin - Ooi Chern Ee

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.c4 f5 8.Nc3 e5 9.Qe3 fxe4 10.Ng5 Nf6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Qg3 Qd7 13.b4 b6 14.Rd1 0-0 15.c5 bxc5 16.bxc5 d5 17.Qxe5 Bxc5 18.Ncxe4 Nxe4 19.Nxe4 Qg4 20.Bb2 Rae8 21.Qxg7+ Qxg7 22.Bxg7 dxe4 23.Bxf8 Rxf8 0-1

Thomas Lam - Suhaimi Asmuni

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.h3 0-0 6.f4 c5 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Qd2 dxc5 9.0-0-0 Nc6 10.e5 Nd7 11.Kb1 a6 12.Ne4 Qc7 13.Nf3 Rd8 14.Qf2 b6 15.g4 Bb7 16.e6 fxe6 17.Neg5 Nf8 18.Bc4 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Re1 h6 21.Bxe6+ Kh8 22.Nf7+ Kh7 23.N3g5+ Kg8 24.Nxh6+ Kh8 25.Nhf7+ Kg8 26.Nxd8+ Nxe6 27.Ndxe6 1-0

Mas Hafizul - Ooi Chern Ee

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 Bxg5 10.Nxd6+ Ke7 11.Nxc8+ Rxc8 12.0-0 Qxd1 13.Rfxd1 f5 14.c3 Rhd8 15.Kf1 e4 16.Ke1 g6 17.h3 Ne5 18.Nd4 Nc4 19.Bxc4 Rxc4 20.Ke2 Rc5 21.g3 Rcd5 22.f3 exf3+ 23.Nxf3 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rxd1 25.Kxd1 Bf6 26.Ke2 Kd6 27.Kd3 Kd5 28.b3 b5 29.Ng1 h5 30.Ne2 g5 31.Ke3 a5 1/2-1/2

Azahari Mohd Nor - Mas Hafizul

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be2 0-0 9.g4 Be6 10.Be3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Bxd5 13.Rg1 Nc6 14.c4 Bb4+ 15.Kf1 Be4 16.Nc5 Bxc5 17.Bxc5 Re8 18.Qxd8 Raxd8 19.Rg3 Rd2 20.Re3 Bc2 21.Ke1 Rd7 22.Rc1 Bg6 23.h4 f6 24.b4 Rc8 25.h5 Bf7 26.g5 Nd4 27.Bg4 Be6 28.Bd1 Kf7 29.a5 Nf5 30.Re4 Rd3 31.Be2 Rh3 32.Kd2 Rd8+ 33.Ke1 Rh1+ 34.Bf1 Nh4 35.Ke2 Bf5 36.Re3 Bg4+ 0-1

Tan Wei Sin - Mohd Johan Jamil

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.0-0 b5 9.a3 Bb7 10.Bf3 Nbd7 11.Qe1 Rc8 12.Kh1 Nb6 13.Nde2 Be7 14.Qg3 0-0 15.f5 Rfe8 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Bg4 Nxg4 18.Qxg4 Bf8 19.Nf4 Qc4 20.Be3 Na4 21.Nh5 Re7 22.Nxa4 bxa4 23.Rf3 Qxc2 24.Raf1 Qc4 25.Nf6+ Kh8 26.Nd7 Ree8 27.Nxf8 Qxe4 28.Qh3 Kg8 29.Nd7 1-0

Ooi Chern Ee - Abdul Haq Mohamad

1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d5 Ne5 5.e4 g6 6.f4 Ned7 7.Qe2 e5 8.dxe6 fxe6 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 Ng8 11.Nf3 c6 12.Bg5 Be7 13.h4 Qc7 14.0-0-0 Bxg5+ 15.hxg5 Qa5 16.Ne4 Qxa2 17.Qd2 Qa1+ 18.Kc2 Qa4+ 19.Kb1 c5 20.Nd6+ Ke7 21.Rh4 h5 22.gxh6 Nf8 23.Rf4 Nxh6 24.Nxc8+ Rxc8 25.Qd6+ Ke8 26.Rxf8+ 1-0

Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin - Lim Yee Weng

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.g3 Bg7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Bd7 9.Nd5 Nc6 10.Ne2 Rc8 11.c3 Nxd5 12.exd5 Ne5 13.Nd4 b5 14.Re1 Re8 15.h3 a6 16.b3 f5 17.Bb2 Nf7 18.Qd2 Kh8 19.Kh2 Nh6 20.Re2 Ng8 21.Rae1 Nf6 22.Qd3 Rc5 23.Ba3 Rc7 24.Nxb5 Bxb5 25.Qxb5 Rxc3 26.Rd1 0-1

Yusoff Ismail - Julian Navaratnam

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a3 Bd7 10.Re1 Rc8 11.Bd2 Na5 12.Ne5 Nc4 13.Nxc4 dxc4 14.Be2 b5 15.Bf3 a5 16.Ne4 Nd5 17.Rc1 b4 18.axb4 axb4 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.dxc5 Qa5 22.Qf3 Rxc5 23.h3 c3 24.bxc3 bxc3 25.Bxc3 Rxc3 26.Ra1 Qc5 27.Red1 Be6 28.Qf4 h6 29.Rab1 Rc8 30.Rb8 Rxb8 31.Qxb8+ Qc8 32.Qe5 Rc2 33.Rb1 Kh7 34.Qd4 0-1

Juniors to the fore

Looking at the composition of players at the national closed championships at the KL Parkroyal recently, it seems that our junior players have not only succeeded in invading what used to be the turf of the adults, but in all likelihood they are destined to dominate the local chess scene for years to come.

I do not have to look far in order to pick out the really outstanding junior players at this year's championship. Even as the tournament unfolded, it became clear that the race to become this year's national champion would be fought between two of the best teenaged players in the country.

The rivalry was very keen and close. After the first four rounds, the tournament had effectively turned into a two-player race between Mas Hafizulhilmi Rahman and Ooi Chern Ee.

Mas Hafizul, as you know, went on to pip Ooi for the title which he had also won in 1994. From the fifth round until the eighth, both players were running neck-to-neck with one another but in the crucial final round, Mas won while Ooi could only manage a draw.

There are many parallels between Mas Hafizul and Ooi. They learnt chess when very young and they both began making an impact in the local chess circuit three or four years ago.

Both of them had also played in several international chess events and they are presently part of the Malaysian team now participating in the Asian team chess championship in Singapore.

Likewise, a host of other players who finished near the top of the national closed championship are comparatively youthful, in their teens or early twenties: players like Tan Wei Sin, Mohd Fairin Zakaria, Thomas Lam, Lim Chuin Hoong and Ng Ee Vern, to name but a few.

Mohd Fairin and Thomas Lam, like Mas Hafizul and Ooi, possess international ratings given by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) by virtue of their results in international events.

The others that I named above do not have any rating presently because of a lack of exposure in FIDE-rated events but if they are given the opportunity, they too can earn their ratings.

Moreover, it has been a rather long time since anybody from Malaysia was awarded a title (FIDE master, international master or grandmaster) from the World Chess Federation.

The law of averages suggests that our next titled player should be coming soon. Can we dare hope that this player will emerge from any one of the hopefuls mentioned above?

Again, when I looked through the list of participants in this year's national closed championship, I am perplexed to note the scarcity of former national champions in the field.

We actually have a long list of former national champions. When the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) first announced the championship last month, it was made clear that all past champions since 1984 would be given automatic entry into the championship.

Sadly, only Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, national champion in 1991, accepted the invitation for the men's championship. The response from the former national women's champions was equally bad. Only Eliza Hanum Ibrahim, the 1993 champion, played.

Where were the rest of them? Scattered all over the country and perhaps overseas. I suppose many of them would say politely that they could not find the time from their work to participate in this event which was played over five days and during office hours too. One or two might even venture to say they could not be bothered with chess and the MCF anymore.

Regardless of the reason, it is a bit sad that those of them who are still around no longer support an event which had given them recognition as national champion and the opportunity to play in some international tournaments, either at home or abroad.

LIEW WINS VARSITY EVENT

It proved to be another successful homecoming for international master Jimmy Liew when he swept away the opposition to win the top prize of RM1,000 at the second Electcoms-USM national open chess championship earlier this month at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.

He played consistent chess throughout the three-day event to score seven points from eight games.

Two players tied for the second to third places with 6 1/2 points each: Teng Wei Ping and Chuah Heng Meng. Six other players - Teng Wei Hong, Wong Kam Loong, Lim Cheng Teik, Ooi Kiem Boo, Ng Tze Han and Wong Chee Chung - scored six points each. The winners of the ninth and 10th prizes were Ng Tze Han and Oung Kar Boon respectively.

Ian Lee, scoring 5 1/2 points, was the best under-20 player while Mohd Amir Abdullah with four points won the under-15 prize. The under-12 prize was given to Lim Yew San, and the best women's prize went to Yu Foong Ee.

The best university or college student among the 81 competitors was Clement Lee who obtained 5 1/2 points. According to the organisers, the USM Bridge and Chess Club, 24 of the participants were from Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

The main sponsor of the tournament was Electcoms Sdn Bhd which contributed RM4,000 in cash and kind. The other sponsors were Guiness Anchor Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, Tan & Tan Development Bhd and MBf Property Services (M) Sdn Bhd. The Bayview Beach Resort, Prosperous Restaurateurs, Hotel Continental and Seang Optometrist contributed prizes for the winners and the lucky draws.

FUND-RAISER

Care for the environment is a serious matter which should be close to everyone's heart. If, as a chess player, you are concerned about this planet on which we live, then the following information should be of considerable interest to you.

Tomorrow and on Sunday, a chess tournament will be held at the Sek Men Taman Melawati, near Zoo Negara. The event, organised by the school's chess club on behalf of Treat Every Environment Special Sdn Bhd (TrEES), is a fund raiser for environmental projects in the community.

This will be a six-round event with games played to a one-hour time control per player for each game. The prize fund is RM1,000 with prizes for the best 10 players. The winner gets RM300 and a trophy. There are also special prizes for the best woman and under-16 players.

Registration for the tournament can be made at the school hall tomorrow at 8am and a donation of at least RM10 will allow you to take part. For details, contact Adrian Lim, Ng Win Siau or Alicia Ling.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

The world under-26 team tournament was held in Parnaiba, Brazil last month. Eleven teams took part in the tournament which was held over seven Swiss rounds.

The winner of the tournament was Georgia which fielded a team which included three international masters. In second place was the Philippines which had two IMs in their team.

The big surprise of the tournament was the dismal showing of the Russian team which was represented by a team of unknowns.

With a wealth of talented players in Russia, it was truly surprising that the Russians had not bothered to come up with a better team. It is unlike Russia to send such a lacklustre team to overseas events where their image were at stake.

Final standings: Georgia 22 points; Philippines 19 1/2 points; Finland and Austria 16 points; Chile 15 points; Brazil A 14 points; Portugal 13 1/2 points; Venezuela 12 points; Russia 11 points; Bolivia 9 1/2 points; and Brazil B 3 1/2 points.

R Barcenilla (Philippines) - R Camejo (Portugal)

1. c4 e6, 2. Nf3 Nf6, 3. g3 d5, 4. b3 c6, 5. Bg2 b5, 6. O-O Be7 7. Bb2 bxc4, 8. bxc4 O-O, 9. Nc3 Ba6, 10. cxd5 cxd5, 11. Qa4 Qd7, 12. d3 Qxa4, 13. Nxa4 Bb5, 14. Nc3 Bd7, 15. Ne5 Na6, 16. Rab1 Rfc8, 17. e4 Rab8, 18. exd5 Rxb2, 19. Rxb2 Rxc3, 20. Rb7 Rc7, 21. Rxc7 Nxc7, 22. Rc1 Bd6, 23. Nxd7 Nxd7, 24. Rc6 Ne8, 25. Ra6 Bc5, 26. dxe6 fxe6, 27. Rxe6 Nef6, 28. h3 Kf7, 29. Re2 Bd4, 30. Kh2 a5, 31. f4 h5, 32. Bc6 Nb6, 33. Kg2 a4, 34. a3 h4, 35. g4 Bc5, 36. Kf3 Bd6, 37. Rb2 Nbd5, 38. Rb5 Ke6, 39. f5+ Ke5, 40. Ra5 Bxa3, 41. Bxd5 Nxd5, 42. Rxa4 Bb4, 43. Ra7 Be7, 44. Ra4 Nb4, 45. Ra5+ Nd5, 46. Ra6 Bf6, 47. Ra4 Nc3, 48. Rc4 Nd5, 49. d4+ Kd6, 50. Ke4 Bg5, 51. Rc5 Nf6+, 52. Kf3 Nd5, 53. Ra5 Nf4, 54. Ra7 Nxh3, 55. Rxg7 Bf6, 56. Rg6 Ke7, 57. d5 Ng5+, 58. Kf4 Nf7, 59. d6+ Nxd6, 60. g5 Bc3, 61. Re6+ Kd7, 62. Re2 h3, 63. f6 Bd4, 64. Kg4 h2, 65. Rxh2 Ke6, 66. Re2+ Be5, 67. Kh5 Nf5, 68. Re1 1-0

S Lizinov (Russia) - C Martins (Brazil A) 1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bc4 Bc5, 4. b4 Bb6, 5. O-O d6, 6. c3 Nf6, 7. d3 O-O, 8. Bg5 Ne7, 9. h3 Be6, 10. Bxe6 fxe6, 11. Qb3 Qd7, 12. a4 a6, 13. a5 Ba7, 14. Nbd2 Ng6, 15. Be3 Kh8, 16. d4 exd4, 17. Nxd4 e5, 18. Ne6 Rfe8, 19. Bxa7 Rxe6, 20. Be3 Nh5, 21. Qd1 Ngf4, 22. Qg4 Qe7, 23. Bxf4 Nxf4, 24. Qf3 Rg6, 25. Rad1 Rf8, 26. Nc4 Nxg2, 27. Qxg2 Rxg2+, 28. Kxg2 Qg5+, 29. Kh2 Qf4+, 30. Kg1 Rf6, 31. Ne3 Rg6+ 0-1

B Ferrufino (Bolivia) - J Tella (Finland)

1. Nf3 d5, 2. g3 c5, 3. Bg2 Nc6, 4. c4 e6, 5. O-O Nf6, 6. cxd5 exd5, 7. d4 Be7, 8. Nc3 O-O, 9. Bg5 cxd4, 10. Nxd4 h6, 11. Bxf6 Bxf6, 12. Nxc6 bxc6, 13. Na4 Re8, 14. Rc1 Bg4, 15. Re1 Qd6, 16. Qc2 Rac8, 17. e3 d4, 18. e4 d3, 19. Qd2 Qd4, 20. Nc5 Bg5, 21. Qxd3 Qxd3, 22. Nxd3 Bxc1, 23. Nxc1 Red8, 24. f3 Be6, 25. Kf2 Rd2+, 26. Re2 Rxe2+, 27. Kxe2 Rb8, 28. b3 c5, 29. Kd2 c4, 30. Kc3 cxb3, 31. axb3 Kf8, 32. f4 f6, 33. Bf1 Ke7, 34. Bd3 Kd6, 35. Bc2 Rc8+, 36. Kd3 Kc5, 37. Kc3 Kd6+, 38. Kd3 Bd7, 39. Kd2 Bc6, 40. Bd3 Re8, 41. Ke3 Bxe4 0-1

 

Mas Hafizul local closed chess champ

Mas Hafizulhilmi Rahman from Kelantan successfully defended his title at this year's national closed chess championship which ended in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

He was undefeated in the five-day tournament at the KL Parkroyal which saw 54 players taking part in the men's section and 14 in the women's section.

Mas Hafizul was tied with Penang's Ooi Chern Ee going into the final round but while Mas Hafizul managed to overcome stiff resistance from Lim Chuin Hoong, Ooi could obtain no better than a draw.

These results put the Kelantanese on top of the championship standings with eight points from nine rounds while Ooi was in second place with 7 1/2 points. The two players received RM500 and RM400 respectively for their efforts. In addition, Mas Hafizul was awarded the Piala Dato Hussein Onn.

In joint third and fourth places were Tan Wei Sin and Lim Yee Weng (both Selangor) who each scored 6 1/2 points.

These four players have automatically qualified for the national men's team that will be taking part in the Asian team chess championship which starts in Singapore next Thursday.

The Malaysian Chess Federation and the federation's president, Dato Sabbaruddin Chik, will be picking one more player each to complete the six-man team.

At the national closed championship, five players - Thomas Lam (MCF), Mohd Fairin Zakaria (PCMM), Julian Navaratnam (KLCA), Azahari Mohd Noor (Kelantan) and Abdul Haq Mohamed (Kelantan) - scored six points each.

In the women's section of the championship, Khairunissa Wahiduddin (Pahang) is the new national women's champion, winning the Piala Dato Sabbaruddin Chik and RM300 with a score of six points from seven games.

A far distance behind were three players - Eliza Hanum Ibrahim (PCMM), Fadlilah Wahiduddin (Pahang) and Roslina Marmono (MCF) - who each scored 4 1/2 points.

Both Khairunissa and Eliza Hanum have qualified for the national women's team that will be playing in the inaugural Asian women's team chess championship in Singapore next week. Again, the MCF and its president shall pick two other players to complete the team.

The trophies for the best under-18 players, awarded by the KL Parkroyal, went to Mas Hafizul and Eliza Hanum.

This was the third year running that the KL Parkroyal has sponsored the national closed championships. In an earlier ceremony, the hotel's general manager, David Travers, presented Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Dato Sabbaruddin a cheque for RM10,000 towards this event.

JOHOR BARU OPEN

Readers in the south of the country wishing for some chess action should keep this Sunday in mind because that's when a one-day tournament will be held at the Bangunan Komtar in Johor Baru.

This is a six-round event played according to Rapid-30 rules. The Johor State Economic Development Corporation and the Johor Baru District Chess Club are the co-organisers.

According to them, this event will have three categories. The open section has a total cash prize of RM1,950 and the winner shall receive RM800.

The other prizes include RM500 for second and RM300 for third placing. There are seven other minor prizes, ranging from RM100 for the fourth-placed winner to two RM20 prizes for the ninth and 10th-placed winners.

Both the under-16 and under-12 sections are offering 10 cash prizes each, but these are not as attractive as those offered in the open section. For the under-16 section, the winner stands to collect RM100 and the runners-up RM80. In the under-12 section, the winner will receive RM80.

Although yesterday was supposed to be the closing date, those who still wish to take part can try to contact Narayanan Krishnan (07-331-7604/07-333-8215) today or tomorrow to see if there are still any available places. Only a maximum of 200 players will be allowed to take part.

Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM6 for the under-16 section and RM5 for the under-12 event.

MALAY MASTERS COMING UP

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia will organise this year's Malay Masters chess championship which shall be held at the Bank Pertanian Malaysia in Bangi from Dec 15-17.

Participation in the three-day event, sponsored by Bank Pertanian, is limited to only 22 players who qualified through the open section of the Malaysian Malays tournament previously.

Six players who took part in the novices section, two players each from the women's open and veteran's sections, and three junior players have also been selected for the Malay Masters championship.

Joining them will be the defending champion, Mohd Fairin Zakaria, and the previous champion, Mohd Kamal Abdullah.

Two rounds will be played on Dec 15, three on Dec 16 and the remaining two rounds on the final day of the competition. For more details, contact Mohd Zaini Hamid (03-789-3710 office/03-617-5031 residence).

GAMES OF THE WEEK: KRAMNIK LEADS THE WAY

Belgrade was the venue of the Investabank tournament last month. This was a 12-player Category 16 tournament where some of the best players in the world took part.

Although Boris Gelfand (Byelorus) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) shared centre stage by finishing joint champions, Kramnik was the more inspiring of the two players.

Final standings: Gelfand and Kramnik 8 points each; Alexei Shirov (Spain) 6 1/2 points; Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) 6 points; Michael Adams (England), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Jan Timman (Netherlands) 5 1/2 points each; Peter Leko (Hungary) 5 points; Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia) 4 1/2 points; Alexander Beliavsky (Ukraine) and Joel Lautier (France) 4 points each; and Igor Miladinovic (Yugoslavia) 3 1/2 points.

Adams - Kramnik

1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. Nf3 d6, 4. d4 cxd4, 5. Nxd4 Nf6, 6. Be3 Ng4, 7. Bg5 h6, 8. Bh4 g5, 9. Bg3 Bg7, 10. Nb3 Be6, 11. Be2 h5, 12. h4 gxh4, 13. Bxh4 Rc8, 14. O-O Bf6, 15. Bg3 Rg8, 16. Nd5 h4, 17. Nxf6+ Nxf6, 18. Bxh4 Nxe4, 19. Bf3 Ng5, 20. Bxg5 Rxg5, 21. Qd2 Rg8, 22. Nd4 Ne5, 23. Be4 Qb6, 24. Rfe1 d5, 25. Bxd5 Bxd5, 26. Rxe5 Rxg2+, 27. Kf1 Qg6, 28. Qb4 Bc4+, 29. Ke1 Qf6 0-1

Topalov - Kramnik

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 d6, 6. Bc4 Qb6, 7. Ndb5 a6, 8. Be3 Qa5, 9. Nd4 Ne5, 10. Bd3 Neg4, 11. Bc1 g6, 12. Nb3 Qb6, 13. Qe2 Bg7, 14. f4 Nh5, 15. Nd5 Qd8, 16. Bd2 e6, 17. Ba5 Qh4+, 18. g3 Nxg3, 19. Nc7+ Ke7, 20. hxg3 Qxg3+, 21. Kd1 Nf2+, 22. Kd2 Nxh1, 23. Nxa8 Qxf4+, 24. Qe3 Qh2+, 25. Qe2 Qf4+, 26. Qe3 Qh2+, 27. Qe2 Bh6+, 28. Kc3 Qe5+, 29. Kb4 Ng3, 30. Qe1 Bg7, 31. Nb6 d5, 32. Ka4 Bd7+, 33. Nxd7 b5+, 34. Kb4 Kxd7, 35. Bb6 Qxb2, 36. exd5 Rc8, 37. dxe6+ Ke8, 38. Bc5 Bc3+, 39. Qxc3 a5+, 40. Kxb5 Qxc3 0-1

Kramnik - Beliavsky

1. Nf3 d5, 2. g3 c6, 3. Bg2 Bg4, 4. O-O Nd7, 5. d4 e6, 6. Nbd2 f5, 7. c4 Bd6, 8. Qb3 Rb8, 9. Re1 Nh6, 10. cxd5 cxd5, 11. h3 Bh5, 12. e4 fxe4, 13. Ng5 Bf7, 14. Ndxe4 dxe4, 15. Nxe6 Bxe6, 16. Qxe6+ Qe7, 17. Rxe4 Kd8, 18. Qd5, 1-0

Adams - Gelfand

1. d4 d5, 2. Bg5 c6, 3. e3 h6, 4. Bh4 Qb6, 5. b3 e5, 6. Nf3 e4, 7. Nfd2 Ne7, 8. c4 Nf5, 9. Bg3 Nxg3, 10. hxg3 Be6, 11. Be2 Nd7, 12. a3 Be7, 13. Nc3 Nf6, 14. b4 O-O, 15. Rc1 Qd8, 16. Nb3 b6, 17. c5 a5, 18. bxa5 bxc5, 19. dxc5 Nd7, 20. Nd4 Qc7, 21. a6 Nxc5, 22. O-O Rfc8, 23. Na2 Bd7, 24. Nb4 Qd6, 25. Qc2 Bf8, 26. Rfd1 g6, 27. Rd2 h5, 28. Nb3 Nxb3, 29. Qxb3 Qe6, 30. Qd1 Be7, 31. Nc2 Qf6, 32. Rb1 Ra7, 33. Nb4 Rca8, 34. Qc1 Qd6, 35. Rb3 Rc8, 36. Rc3 Rcc7, 37. Bd1 Bf6, 38. Rc4 Be6, 39. Be2 c5, 40. Nxd5 Bxd5, 41. Qd1 Rd7, 42. Rxe4 Qc6, 43. Re8+ Kg7, 44. Rb8 c4, 45. Rb7 c3, 46. Bb5 Qxb5, 47. Rxb5 cxd2, 48. Qxd2 Bc4, 49. Qb4 Bxb5, 50. Qxb5 Rd6, 51. e4 Re6, 52. Qd3 Rexa6, 53. Kh2 Rxa3, 54. Qd6 R3a6, 55. Qd3 Ra1, 56. f4 Rc1, 57. g4 hxg4, 58. Qe2 Raa1, 59. Kg3 Ra3+ 0-1

Gelfand - Shirov

1. c4 Nf6, 2. Nc3 d5, 3. cxd5 Nxd5, 4. g3 g6, 5. Bg2 Nxc3, 6. bxc3 Bg7, 7. Rb1 Nd7, 8. Nf3 O-O, 9. O-O Rb8, 10. d4 b6, 11. d5 Bb7, 12. Nd4 Nc5, 13. c4 e6, 14. e4 c6, 15. Nxc6 Bxc6, 16. dxc6 Qc7, 17. e5 Rbd8, 18. Qc2 Bxe5, 19. Bg5 f6, 20. Bh6 Rfe8, 21. Rbd1 Bd4, 22. Bf4 e5, 23. Bd5+ Kg7, 24. Rxd4 exf4, 25. Rxf4 Re5, 26. Rd4 Rde8, 27. Bf3 Rf5, 28. Qc3 Re7, 29. Rfd1 h5, 30. h4 Qe5, 31. Qa3 Qe6, 32. Rd6 Qxc4, 33. Rd7 Rfe5, 34. Rxa7 Kh6, 35. Rxe7 Rxe7, 36. Qb2 Ne4, 37. Bxe4 Qxe4, 38. Qxf6, 1-0

Ivanchuk - Topalov

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 g6, 6. Be3 Bg7, 7. f3 Nc6, 8. Qd2 O-O, 9. Bc4 Bd7, 10. h4 Rc8, 11. Bb3 h5, 12. O-O-O Ne5, 13. Bg5 Rc5, 14. g4 hxg4, 15. f4 Nc4, 16. Qe2 Qc8, 17. Bxf6 Bxf6, 18. Nd5 Rxd5, 19. exd5 b5, 20. h5 g5, 21. fxg5 Bxg5+, 22. Kb1 f5, 23. Rd3 f4, 24. Bxc4 Qxc4 0-1

 

Near mutiny in chess federation

Nothing has been more exciting during the past week than news from Paris where the annual Congress meeting of the World Chess Federation was taking place.

On Nov 19, the Central Committee of the World Chess Federation passed an historical vote of no confidence in the FIDE president, Florencio Campomanes.

The outcome of the motion, proposed by Phil Haley of Canada and strongly backed by Fanueil Adams of the United States and Egon Ditt of Germany, was 14-12 against Campomanes.

A later effort by Campomanes to take the "no confidence" vote to the General Assembly, in the hope of a reversal of the motion, came to naught.

He found himself in a no-win position when delegates from more than 63 countries presented a statement that if full democracy was not restored to FIDE, they were prepared to set up a rival world chess body.

Faced with this massive revolt and the urgings of many of his longtime friends, Campomanes was finally forced to tender his resignation as the president of the World Chess Federation.

Then in the early hours of Nov 24, 33-year-old Krisan Iljumzhinov, president of the small Russian Kalmyk Republic and a member of the Russian parliament, was elected as the new president of FIDE until the end of 1996 when there will be new elections.

He was introduced to the General Assembly by the FIDE world champion, Anatoly Karpov, for whom Campomanes' ouster must have given him much personal satisfaction.

Initially, the Russian Chess Federation spoke against Iljumzhinov's candidacy but was forced to withdraw its objections when Iljumzhinov's supporters introduced an endorsement letter signed by Russian president Boris Yeltsin.

According to an observer at the General Assembly, "everyone was laughing when the Russian Federation, represented by Gary Kasparov and Andrei Makarov, staged a sudden vanishing act during the actual vote."

Campomanes will remain in FIDE for one year, serving in a newly created post of honorary chairman with no constitutional power and which carries neither stipend nor expenses.

Developments seem positive for FIDE when it was revealed that the match between Karpov and his challenger, Gata Kamsky, finally has a sponsor and it will take place in Montreal next year.

A Unity Commission has also been formed and its purpose is to arrange a unification match in 1996 between the eventual winner of the Karpov-Kamsky match, and Kasparov.

Earlier, the Central Committee had recommended to the General Assembly that it should reject the agreement between FIDE and the Professional Chess Association on the grounds that the draft regulations for the unification of their rival world championship titles, submitted by the PCA, were unsatisfactory.

The General Assembly upheld this recommendation, agreeing that the proposed match regulations were not equal for the two players and in essence meant that FIDE would be renouncing their sovereignty over the World Championship.

In the United States, several policy board members of the United States Chess Federation lauded the decision of the General Assembly.

A longer-range implication of this decision is now becoming clearer. With a Kamsky-Karpov match now certain to be held, the PCA probably will have to agree to demands that the FIDE world champion be treated as a co-champion.

This means that the PCA world champion, Kasparov, cannot declare himself the absolute champion should this unification match ends in a draw.

In the United States, a United States Chess Federation policy board member believed that should Kamsky become the FIDE champion by defeating Karpov and the United States recognising him as such, this would force the PCA to relinquish control over a unification match.

The PCA would not want Intel Corporation, the main sponsor of the Kasparov-Anand PCA world championship match in New York last October, to ask too many questions about why its champion was suddenly playing second fiddle in its own backyard.

A USCF policy board member added: "The computer giant will never tolerate a situation in which the United States itself fails to recognise Kasparov as the absolute champion.

"The PCA will have to deal, and the good news for the PCA is that its opponents will demand nothing more than absolutely equal treatment for both players in the unification match.

"It may be better than what Kasparov deserves, but we have to start somewhere in reestablishing a rule of law in the chess world."

GOINGS ON

On Dec 10, the Johor Bahru District Chess Club will organise a one-day Rapid-30 tournament at Bangunan Komtar in Johor Bahru.

This event will be played in three categories. The open section features a very attractive first prize of RM800 and a second prize of RM500. There are eight other cash prizes in this section, ranging from RM300 for the third prize to two RM20 prizes for the ninth and 10th-placed winners.

Both the under-16 and under-12 sections offer 10 cash prizes each. For the under-16 section, the winner stands to collect RM100 and the runners-up RM80. In the under-12 section, the winner will receive RM80.

Intending participants should register with the organisers before Dec 7. Only 200 places is available. Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM6 for the under-16 section and RM5 for the under-12 event.

Details: Narayanan Krishnan (07-331-7604/07-333-8215) or write to him at 52 Jalan Landak Batu, Taman Century, 80250 Johor Bahru.

In Penang, Gerakan Youth will organise a two-day chess competition at the Hotel Agora in MacAlister Road. This event features an open international chess tournament as well as a Chinese chess tournament, to be held concurrently. Three rounds will be played on Jan 6 and four rounds on the following day.

The international chess section will involve the Penang Chess Association as the co-organiser while the Penang Chinese Chess Association will organise the Chinese chess section.

Eight prizes each are offered in both sections and the winner will receive RM500 and a challenge trophy. The second prize is RM400, third prize RM300 and fourth prize RM200. The fifth to eighth placed winners will get RM50 each. Entry fee is RM5 and closing date is Dec 22.

Entry forms are available at Times Bookshop in Burmah Road, Penang. Details: Goh Yoon Wah (04-644-5687).

Also in Penang, the second Universiti Sains Malaysia national open chess tournament begins today and will continue until Sunday. This event, with ElectCom as main sponsor, is run jointly by the university's Bridge & Chess Club and the Penang Chess Association.

This three-day event is held over eight rounds using a time control of one hour per player for each game. Ten prizes totalling RM3,250 are lined up with the winner set to get RM1,000 cash.

Finally in Kuala Lumpur, the national men's and women's closed championship is already in full swing at the Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal.

Three more rounds remain, with two to be played tomorrow and one on Sunday. Today is a rest day for the participants.

KASPAROV HEADS THE PACK

Last month's Paris Grand Prix, sponsored by Intel Corporation, was won by Gary Kasparov. He lost the first game of the final to Vladimir Kramnik but managed to equalise the score when he won the second game. In the play-off which was played at blitz rate, Kasparov beat Kramnik 1 1/2-1/2.

In the semi-finals, Viswanathan Anand was due to play Kasparov but he arrived late for the first game and had to forfeit it. Apparently, there was some miscommunication over the start of the game.

Viktor Korchnoi, Kiril Georgiev, Alexander Chernin, Valentin Arbakov, Konstantin Aseev and Predrag Nikolic qualified through a preliminary event to join Michael Adams, Joel Lautier, Ettienne Bacrot, Vladimir Kramnik, Anatoli Vaisser, Vassily Ivanchuk, Anand, Jon Speelman, Kasparov and Alexander Morozevich in the finals.

Kasparov - Kramnik, finals game 1

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bb5 e6, 4. O-O Nge7, 5. c3 a6, 6. Be2 d5, 7. exd5 Nxd5, 8. d4 Be7, 9. c4 Nf6, 10. dxc5 Bxc5, 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8, 12. Nc3 Ke7, 13. Rd1 Rd8, 14. Rxd8 Nxd8, 15. a3 Bd7, 16. b4 Bd6, 17. Be3 h6, 18. Rd1 Rc8, 19. h3 Be8, 20. Nd4 Nd7, 21. f4 Bc7, 22. Nb3 f6, 23. c5 Nc6, 24. Bf3 Rd8, 25. h4 Ndb8, 26. Rxd8 Nxd8, 27. Kf2 Nbc6, 28. g3 Bf7, 29. Nd2 Bg6, 30. h5 Bd3, 31. Be2 Bh7, 32. Nc4 Bg8, 33. Bf3 Kd7, 34. Ke2 Ne7, 35. Kd3 Ndc6, 36. Bf2 e5, 37. Nb6+ Kd8, 38. Ncd5 Bxd5, 39. Nxd5 Nxd5, 40. Bxd5 exf4, 41. gxf4 Bxf4, 42. Ke4 Bc1, 43. a4 Nxb4, 44. Bxb7 Kc7, 45. Ba8 Kb8, 46. Bd5 f5+, 47. Kxf5 Nxd5, 48. Bd4 Nf6, 49. Kg6 Kc7, 50. Be5+ Kc6, 51. Kxg7 Nd7, 52. Bd4 Nxc5, 53. Kg6 Ne6, 54. Bf6 Kc5, 55. Be7+ Kc4, 56. Kf5 Nf4, 57. Kg4 Kb3, 58. a5 Ka4, 59. Bd8 Ne6, 60. Bb6 Bg5, 61. Kf5 Nf4, 62. Kg4 Nd5, 63. Kf5 Kb5 0-1

Kramnik - Kasparov, finals game 2

1. c4 g6, 2. Nf3 Nf6, 3. Nc3 Bg7, 4. e4 d6, 5. d4 O-O, 6. Be2 e5, 7. d5 a5, 8. Bg5 h6, 9. Bh4 Na6, 10. O-O Qe8, 11. Nd2 Nh7, 12. a3 f5, 13. f3 Bd7, 14. b4 axb4, 15. axb4 Nxb4, 16. Qb3 c5, 17. dxc6 Nxc6, 18. c5+ Kh8, 19. cxd6 Nd4, 20. Qxb7 Rb8, 21. Qa6 Rc8, 22. Bc4 Rc6, 23. Qa2 Rxd6, 24. Bd5 g5, 25. Bf2 g4, 26. exf5 gxf3, 27. Nxf3 Bxf5, 28. Ne4 Bxe4, 29. Bxe4 Nf6, 30. Bb7 Ng4, 31. Rae1 Qh5, 32. Bg3 Nf5, 33. Nxe5 Nxg3, 34. Rxf8+ Bxf8, 35. Nxg4 Rd1, 36. Rxd1 Bc5+, 37. Qf2 Bxf2+, 38. Nxf2 Ne2+, 39. Kh1 Nc3, 40. Rd8+ Kg7, 41. Bf3 Qb5, 42. Rd3 Qb1+, 43. Bd1 Qb2, 44. Kg1 Qc1, 45. h3 h5, 46. Kh2 h4, 47. Bf3 Qc2, 48. Rd7+ Kf8, 49. Ng4 Qc1, 50. Rd4 Nb5, 51. Rd5 Qf4+, 52. Kh1 Nd4, 53. Ne5 Qc1+, 54. Kh2 Qc7, 55. Rc5 Nxf3+, 56. gxf3 Qb8, 57. Kg1 Qb4, 58. Nd3 Qd4+, 59. Kg2 Qxd3, 60. Rc8+ Kf7, 61. Kf2 Qd7, 62. Rc2 Qxh3, 63. Ke3 Qg3, 64. Rc4 h3, 65. Rf4+ Qxf4+ 0-1

Anand - Kasparov, semi-finals game 2

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 Nc6, 6. Bg5 e6, 7. Qd2 Be7, 8. O-O-O O-O, 9. f4 h6, 10. h4 Nxd4, 11. Qxd4 hxg5, 12. hxg5 Ng4, 13. Be2 e5, 14. Qg1 exf4, 15. Bxg4 Bxg4, 16. Qh2 f5, 17. Qh7+ Kf7, 18. Rh6 Bxg5, 9. Rhxd6 f3+, 20. Kb1 Qxd6, 21. Rxd6 fxg2, 22. Qh2 Bf3, 23. Qg3 Rh8, 24. Qxg5 Rh1+, 25. Nd1 g1=Q, 26. Rd7+ Kf8, 27. Qxf5+ Kg8, 28. Qxf3 Rf8, 29. Qb3+ Kh7 0-1

Lautier - Kramnik, semi-finals game 1

1. d4 d5, 2. c4 c6, 3. Nc3 Nf6, 4. Nf3 e6, 5. Bg5 h6, 6. Bxf6 Qxf6, 7. e4 dxe4, 8. Nxe4 Bb4+, 9. Ke2 Qf4, 10. Qc2 Be7, 11. Ne5 f5, 12. Nd2 Qxd4, 13. Ndf3 Qc5, 14. Ng6 Rg8, 15. Nxe7 Qxe7, 16. g3 e5, 17. Bh3 e4, 18. Rhe1 Na6, 19. Kf1 Bd7, 20. Nd4 g6, 21. a3 O-O-O, 22. b4 Nc7, 23. Kg1 h5, 24. c5 h4, 25. a4 hxg3, 26. hxg3 Rh8, 27. Bg2 Ne6, 28. Rad1 Nxd4, 29. Rxd4 Be6, 30. Rxd8+ Rxd8, 31. b5 Qd7, 32. bxc6 Qxc6, 33. Bf1 Qd5, 34. Re3 Qd2, 35. Qb1 Qd1, 36. Qb5 Bd7, 37. Qb2 Bxa4, 38. Ra3 a6, 39. Ra1 Qd4, 40. Qa3 Bc6, 41. Rb1 e3, 42. Qxe3 Qxe3, 43. fxe3 Rd2, 44. Rb4 a5, 45. Rd4 Rxd4, 46. exd4 Bd5, 47. Bb5 Bb3 0-1