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
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