A slick move...

Chess players with Internet access can now download the popular SLICS22f.exe shareware programme from the local Jaring server. To download this file, you should either use an ftp programme like WSFTP or CuteFTP, or you can also ftp from within your web browser.

SLICS22f.exe is the most popular windows shareware programme that is used to access the Internet Chess Club and other on-line chess servers. It was the official programme used for the international G-7 tournament held in Halifax last year. Intel Corporation had also selected SLICS22f for use by Gary Kasparov in his virtual simultaneous chess exhibition on the Internet Chess Club last December.

According to its programmer Don Fong, SLICS22f can be used to view ascii game files from many different sources. It is also possible to use it as a Netscape helper application to view games.

If you are satisfied with using SLICS22f, remember that it is a shareware programme and you are supposed to register with the programmer. A contribution of US$5 (about RM13) or more is required.

USM CHALLENGE

The Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge and Chess Club will organise its annual USM open team tournament on Mar 2 and 3. This is a six-round event using a 60-minute time control per player for each game.

Three rounds will be played on each day with the first round on Mar 2 starting at 2pm, the second round at 4.30pm and the third round at 8pm. On Mar 3, the games will be played at 8am, 10.30am and 2pm, followed by a closing ceremony at 4.30pm.

Entry fees are RM60 for schools and RM100 for other teams. Each organisation or institution can field a maximum of three teams. A first prize of RM800 is offered to the winning team with RM500 to the runners-up. There are three other cash prizes.

For details, contact Gaik Ling. Closing date is Feb 29.

PFS Open

This is a reminder that the sixth Penang Free School open chess tournament will be held at the school on March 24. This will be played over seven rounds and cash prizes - including a RM200 first prize - will be given to the top 10 players. There will also be various category prizes.

Entry fees are RM4 for players who are under 20 years old and RM6 for others. The closing date for entries is Mar 3.

To register for the event, contact Liong Ing Kiat or Lim Cheng Teik in the evenings. Alternatively, you can register electronically with Ronnie Lau at rlau@pl.jaring.my.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

This week, we shall look at two more games from the Gary Kasparov versus Deep Blue match at the Philadephia Convention Center, USA. Although these two games were drawn, they were not without their interesting moments.

The stake is the US$500,000 (about RM1,275,000) prize fund offered by the Association of Computing Machinery which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To the winner of the six-game match goes US$400,000 (about RM1 million) while the loser gets US$100,000 (about RM275,000).

Deep Blue and Kasparov played to a draw in the third game to leave the match tied at 1 1/2-1 1/2. Deep Blue tried to capitalise on an early initiative but was unable to gain any edge due to Kasparov's sturdy defence.

Kasparov engaged the computer in a wholesale liquidation of their pieces, skipping the middlegame and jumping into a straightforward endgame. Even though Kasparov built an advantage in his position, the computer played skillfully enough to neutralize any positional manuevering.

In Game 4, Deep Blue proved its mettle by drawing with the black pieces. This was an open game and Kasparov seemed frustrated by his inability to mount an attack against the unassailable machine. Towards the end of the middle game, things started to look a little dicey for Kasparov.

As the first time control approached, the additional pressure of the clock seemed to weigh heavily on Kasparov. But once he reached the time control, he was able to formulate a plan which ensured him the draw.

Deep Blue's team once refused his draw offer, but it finally relinquished hope of a win after Kasparov initiated a clever rook sacrifice for his opponent's knight and pawn. Deep Blue's slight material advantage could not be exploited because of the threat of a back rank mate. The game was drawn by mutual agreement.

Deep Blue - Gary Kasparov, Game 3

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4 10. a3 Ba5 11. Nc3 Qd6 12. Ne5 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Nxe5 15. Bf4 Nf3+ 16. Qxf3 Qd5 17. Qd3 Rc8 18. Rfc1 Qc4 19. Qxc4 Rxc4 20. Rcb1 b6 21. Bb8 Ra4 22. Rb4 Ra5 23. Rc4 O-O 24. Bd6 Ra8 25. Rc6 b5 26. Kf1 Ra4 27. Rb1 a6 28. Ke2 h5 29. Kd3 Rd8 30. Be7 Rd7 31. Bxf6 gxf6 32. Rb3 Kg7 33. Ke3 e5 34. g3 exd4+ 35. cxd4 Re7+ 36. Kf3 Rd7 37. Rd3 Raxd4 38. Rxd4 Rxd4 39. Rxa6 b4 1/2-1/2

Gary Kasparov - Deep Blue, Game 4

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nbd2 Nf6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 O-O 10. O-O h6 11. Bc2 e5 12. Re1 exd4 13. Qxd4 Bc5 14. Qc3 a5 15. a3 Nf6 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 Bg4 18. Ne5 Re8 19. Rae1 Be6 20. f4 Qc8 21. h3 b5 22. f5 Bxc4 23. Nxc4 bxc4 24. Rxe8+ Nxe8 25. Re4 Nf6 26. Rxc4 Nd5 27. Qe5 Qd7 28. Rg4 f6 29. Qd4 Kh7 30. Re4 Rd8 31. Kh1 Qc7 32. Qf2 Qb8 33. Ba4 c5 34. Bc6 c4 35. Rxc4 Nb4 36. Bf3 Nd3 37. Qh4 Qxb2 38. Qg3 Qxa3 39. Rc7 Qf8 40. Ra7 Ne5 41. Rxa5 Qf7 42. Rxe5 fxe5 43. Qxe5 Re8 44. Qf4 Qf6 45. Bh5 Rf8 46. Bg6+ Kh8 47. Qc7 Qd4 48. Kh2 Ra8 49. Bh5 Qf6 50. Bg6 Rg8 1/2-1/2

 

Into the deep blue

Two significant events now taking place in the United States and Spain have made this a very special week for chess. Readers who followED this column last week would know what I mean.

The first event is, of course, the US$500,000 (about RM1.25 million) man-against-machine challenge in Philadelphia between Gary Kasparov and the IBM chess supercomputer known as Deep Blue.

Unlike previous encounters between man and chess machines or programmes where the games used to be of the 30-minute or 60-minute variety, this match is, for the first time, played according to normal regulation time control.

Each player is allowed two hours for his first 40 moves and this is followed by another hour's play of another 20 moves if the game has not finished by the fourth hour.

With this time control when there is more time for the man to think, Kasparov is expected to show a marked superiority over the computer. But the first game has shown otherwise.

It was history in the making last Saturday when Deep Blue beat Kasparov in the first game of the six-game match. Kasparov was outplayed by Deep Blue which succeeded in breaking up the former's kingside defences before it launched a devastating attack on his king.

However, in the second game on Sunday, Kasparov managed to grind out a long and protracted win in the endgame against Deep Blue. After two games, the score stands at 1-1.

Obviously, Deep Blue must be very special if it is capable of posing so much problems to Kasparov. According to IBM, the computer contains more than one million transistors; it has 48 RAM blocks and three Endgame ROM blocks. These blocks enable Deep Blue to analyse two to three million chess positions per second.

The largest two RAM blocks have 1024x10 bits each and are used to store the values of the chess pieces on each square of the chess board. The largest of the endgame ROM blocks has 128,000x1 bits and it stores the win/draw information for all known king-and-pawn versus king endings.

In a nutshell, Deep Blue is a computational engine capable of examining a billion moves in a second. It is a massive parallel, special-purpose system with an overall processing speed that is 1000 times faster than Deep Thought which was the original chess computer developed by the Deep Blue team in 1986.

For the record, after Deep Thought came Deep Thought II which was 10 times faster. Deep Thought II, later called Deep Blue Prototype, was capable of analysing more than seven million chess positions per second.

The Deep Blue development team, managed by Chung-Jen Tan, is based at the IBM Research Division's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. The team consists of computer scientists Feng-Hsiung Hsu, Murray S. Campbell, A. Joseph Hoane Jr, and Gershon Brody.

SHOWDOWN IN SPAIN

The huge media publicity over the match in Philadelphia has, unfortunately, eclipsed another chess event which is taking place in Spain. The Spanish town of Jaen is the venue of the women's world chess championship match between defending champion Xie Jun and her challenger, Zsuzsa Polgar.

Last week, I postulated that the match would be very close and it would be difficult for Polgar to wrest the title from Xie. Nothing could be farther than reality!

In this match, it is a sorrowful Xie Jun who has her back to the wall. The match is almost over for her and the score stands at 5 1/2-2 1/2 in Polgar's favour after eight games.

Xie's only win was in the first game. She then proceeded to lose the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth games. The other games were drawn.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

This week's selection of games are from the matches in Phildelphia and Jaen. More will follow next week.

Deep Blue - Gary Kasparov, Game 1

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Bb4 11. a3 Ba5 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Nb5 Qe7 14. Ne5 Bxe2 15. Qxe2 O-O 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. Bg5 Bb6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Nc4 Rfd8 20. Nxb6 axb6 21. Rfd1 f5 22. Qe3 Qf6 23. d5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 exd5 25. b3 Kh8 26. Qxb6 Rg8 27. Qc5 d4 28. Nd6 f4 29. Nxb7 Ne5 30. Qd5 f3 31. g3 Nd3 32. Rc7 Re8 33. Nd6 Re1+ 34. Kh2 Nxf2 35. Nxf7+ Kg7 36. Ng5+ Kh6 37. Rxh7+ 1-0

Gary Kasparov - Deep Blue, Game 2

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. O-O Nf6 6. c4 dxc4 7. Ne5 Bd7 8. Na3 cxd4 9. Naxc4 Bc5 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Qxb7 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Rb8 13. Qf3 Bd6 14. Nc6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 e5 16. Rb1 Rb6 17. Qa4 Qb8 18. Bg5 Be7 19. b4 Bxb4 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Qd7 Qc8 22. Qxa7 Rb8 23. Qa4 Bc3 24. Rxb8 Qxb8 25. Be4 Qc7 26. Qa6 Kg7 27. Qd3 Rb8 28. Bxh7 Rb2 29. Be4 Rxa2 30. h4 Qc8 31. Qf3 Ra1 32. Rxa1 Bxa1 33. Qh5 Qh8 34. Qg4 Kf8 35. Qc8 Kg7 36. Qg4 Kf8 37. Bd5 Ke7 38. Bc6 Kf8 39. Bd5 Ke7 40. Qf3 Bc3 41. Bc4 Qc8 42. Qd5 Qe6 43. Qb5 Qd7 44. Qc5+ Qd6 45. Qa7 Qd7 46. Qa8 Qc7 47. Qa3+ Qd6 48. Qa2 f5 49. Bxf7 e4 50. Bh5 Qf6 51. Qa3+ Kd7 52. Qa7 Kd8 53. Qb8+ Kd7 54. Be8+ Ke7 55. Bb5 Bd2 56. Qc7+ Kf8 57. Bc4 Bc3 58. Kg2 Be1 59. Kf1 Bc3 60. f4 exf3 61. exf3 Bd2 62. f4 Ke8 63. Qc8+ Ke7 64. Qc5 Kd8 65. Bd3 Be3 66. Qxf5 Qc6 67. Qf8+ Kc7 68. Qe7+ Kc8 69. Bf5+ Kb8 70. Qd8+ Kb7 71. Qd7+ Qxd7 72. Bxd7 Kc7 73. Bb5 1-0

Xie Jun - Zsuzsa Polgar, Game 4

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. f3 O-O 10. g4 Rd8 11. Be3 Qc7 12. g5 Nd7 13. O-O-O a6 14. h4 b5 15. h5 Nb6 16. g6 Bf6 17. h6 fxg6 18. hxg7 Na4 19. Nd4 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Nxc3 22. bxc3 Qxg7 23. Qb6 Qe7 24. e5 d5 25. Bd3 Bd7 26. Rdg1 Be8 27. f4 d4 28. cxd4 Rab8 29. Qxa6 Rxd4 30. f5 exf5 31. Bxf5 Qxe5 32. Be6+ Kh8 33. Kb1 Ra4 0-1

Zsuzsa Polgar - Xie Jun, Game 5

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qd2 dxc6 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Na4 Rd8 9. Bd3 Bd4 10. c3 b5 11. cxd4 bxa4 12. Qc2 Qxd4 13. Qxc6+ Kf8 14. Be2 Ne7 15. Qc2 f5 16. O-O Qxe4 17. Qxc7 Kf7 18. Bh5+ g6 19. Bf3 Qc4 20. Qxa7 Qd4 21. Qa5 Nd5 22. Rd1 Qc4 23. Bg5 Rd7 24. Rac1 Qxa2 25. Bxd5 1-0

 

Xie takes on Polgar

The women's world chess championship match between defending champion Xie Jun of China and her Hungarian challenger, Zsuzsa Polgar, began last week in the Spanish town of Jaen.

This match, played under the auspices of the World Chess Federation, has real significance for the Chinese champion as it marks the first time in five years that she is playing a match with an opponent who is rated higher than her. For the record, Xie is rated at 2530 and Polgar at 2550.

To win the women's world champion's title, Polgar will have to gain 8 1/2 points from this match of only 16 games.

She may yet achieve this result. The 20-point difference in the two players' ratings suggests that the match will be very close and may go the full distance.

Statistically, this means that Polgar is expected to score 8.48 points against Xie's expected score of 7.52 points. This is close enough to the 8 1/2 points which Polgar will require.

But the defending champion is not without her practical advantages in this match. In the event of a tie at 8-8, Xie will keep her title. Besides, Xie also holds a psychological edge as Polgar will need to prove that she can actually outperform the champion.

In any case, the first four games of the match seems to give credence to the prospect of a close match. Xie went into the lead immediately by winning the first game. The next two games were drawn, and then Polgar equalised by winning the fourth game.

In Jaen, Xie has a formidable team of helpers who are hoping that their collective effort will more than offset Polgar's helpers who are her immediate family members. You should, however, take notice that her most illustrious sister/helper answers to the name of Judit!

Polgar had qualified for the world champiomship match by beating former women's world champion Maya Chiburdanidze in the Candidates finals match last year.

Readers with internet access may wish to connect to http://www.tasc.nl/wwc in the World-Wide Web where TASC, a Dutch chess software company, are covering the event on their www page.

KASPAROV TO PLAY DEEP BLUE TOMORROW

Years ago, Deep Thought was already the most powerful chess-playing computer in the world. The programmers of Deep Thought, then doing post-graduate studies at the Carnegie-Mellon University in the United States, were subsequently employed by IBM to continue work on enhancing their chess-playing machine.

Enter now Deep Blue, the successor to Deep Thought, which last year had finished second at the microcomputer chess championship in Hongkong. After that competition, the Deep Blue team entered into an agreement with Gary Kasparov to play him in a match of six games.

This match starts tomorrow and it will be played on Feb 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 17. Kasparov was reported to be preparing for this match by playing against various other top class computers.

For an on-the-spot coverage of this match, internet users should turn their web browsers to http://www.ibm.park.org/chess.html.

JOHOR OPEN RESULTS

Jimmy Liew, although still the best player that Malaysia has ever produced, had his domination of the local chess scene checked when he failed to add the 1996 Johor open title to his impressive list of achievements.

At this tournament in Johor Bahru last month, Liew was comfortably leading the pack of players until when going into the sixth and final round, he found himself paired against Malcolm Tan of Singapore.

His luck deserted him at this crucial moment and he found himself not only out of the running for the first prize but also cut off from the second to fifth prizes.

This tournament was marked by the presence of several top players from both sides of the causeway and elsewhere too. Apart from Liew, the notable local names included Mok Tze Meng and Ismail Ahmad.

Other than Tan, Osric Mooi and Michael Siong were among the Singaporeans taking part.

Final results: Malcolm Tan 5 1/2 points; Tony Dempsey (Scotland), Mok Tze Meng, Darren Yong, Kenneth Tan 5 points each; Jimmy Liew, Osric Mooi and Michael Siong 4 1/2 points each; ... 59 players.

PFS OPEN

The Penang Free School chess club is holding their sixth PFS open tournament on March 24. This will be played over seven rounds and cash prizes, including a RM200 first prize, will be given to the top 10 players. There will also be various category prizes.

Entry fees are RM4 for players under 20 years old and RM6 for others. The closing date is Mar 3.

To register for the event, contact Liong Ing Kiat or Lim Cheng Teik in the evenings. Alternatively, e-mail registrations can be sent to Ronnie Lau.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

The first three games from the women's world chess championship match.

Xie Jun - Zsuzsa Polgar

1. g3 g6 2. Bg2 Bg7 3. e4 e5 4. Ne2 Nc6 5. c3 Nge7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 d5 8. e5 f6 9. f4 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Nbc3 fxe5 12. fxe5 Rxf1+ 13. Qxf1 Qd7 14. h3 Rf8 15. Nf4 g5 16. hxg4 gxf4 17. gxf4 Qxg4 18. Qe2 Qg3 19. Qf2 Qxf2+ 20. Kxf2 Nxd4 21. Nxd5 Ng6 22. Nc3 c6 23. Be3 Bxe5 24. Rd1 Nxf4 25. Bxf4 Rxf4+ 26. Ke3 Nf5+ 27. Kd3 Rg4 28. Bh3 Rd4+ 29. Ke2 Rxd1 30. Nxd1 Nd6 31. b4 Kg7 32. a4 Kf6 33. Nf2 Bd4 34. Nd3 b6 35. Nf4 c5 36. Nd5+ Ke5 37. bxc5 bxc5 38. Ne7 a6 39. a5 Nc4 40. Nc6+ Kd6 41. Nb8 Kc7 42. Nxa6+ Kb7 43. Nxc5+ Bxc5 44. a6+ Kb6 45. Kd3 Nd6 46. Ke2 Kxa6 47. Kf3 Kb6 48. Be6 Kc7 49. Kg4 Kd8 50. Kh5 Be3 51. Bg8 h6 52. Bb3 Ke7 53. Kg6 Ne4 54. Bd1 Ke6 55. Bg4+ Ke5 56. Bd1 Bg5 57. Be2 Kf4 58. Bd1 Ng3 59. Ba4 h5 60. Bd7 h4 0-1

Zsuzsa Polgar - Xie Jun

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. Bh4 e5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 Qa5 13. Kb1 Rfe8 14. Bb5 a6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. fxe5 Qxe5 17. Bg3 1/2-1/2

Xie Jun - Zsuzsa Polgar

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qd2 dxc6 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Na4 Rd8 9. Bd3 Bd4 10. O-O Qh4 11. Qf4 Qh5 12. Qg3 Ne7 13. Be3 Bf6 14. h3 O-O 15. f4 Bh4 16. Qf3 Qxf3 17. Rxf3 f5 18. Nc5 fxe4 19. Bxe4 1/2-1/2

 

Hooked on on-line chess

When I wrote about chess resources in the Internet five weeks ago, never did I realise that I was going to be smittened with the Internet Chess Club.

I have become so fascinated with the ICC that I log into the ICC server almost daily, sometimes for only a few minutes, just to hang around and watch games being played, but more often to play a few games myself.

The advantage of the ICC is that I am no longer separated by distances. My opponent will most likely be a player from another part of the world and we are linked together in a chess game played on-line and in real-time mode.

Games can either be of the blitz variety or they can be of a longer time control. But mainly, blitz tends to be the most popular genre here.

However, unlike normal blitz games that you will find in any physical chess club, the Fischerian time control is the absolute norm. For example, one player can challenge another to a blitz game using a "3 15" time control. This is a three-minute blitz game but after every move, 15 seconds are added back to your chess clock.

In theory, if you can move fast enough, taking less than 15 seconds per move, you may actually end up with more time on your clock than what you had started with. This is a most novel situation, but it hardly occurs in practice. Well, not with me, anyway.

But the time added on to your chess clock can mean a big difference between continuing your game and losing on time. If you make some moves rather quickly, you can gain back a bit of extra time for the remainder of your game.

And of course, there is nothing to prevent you from challenging someone to a blitz game with normal time controls. In this case, just propose a "5 0" time control.

If you are a paid-up member, all the games that you play against other members are rateable by the ICC. You will be given a rating based on the games you play, and these ratings change instantaneously upon the conclusion of every game. This is quite a neat feature.

Once you log into the ICC, typing "who" at the aics% prompt will list all persons who are logged on at the same time as you. This command led me to my Singaporean friend, Fide master Chia Chee Seng, who helped me a lot in the ICC initially. By the way, you can also type "help" at this prompt for some on-line assistance.

Chia is an ICC administrator and it was he who persuaded me to join as a member. All members are identified on-line by their handle which is something like a nickname. Mine is, of course, "SSQuah" which identifies me to everybody.

Not everybody's handle is that obvious, however. All sorts of nicknames are used and usually, it is impossible to know who is at the other game of your game. For all you know, he may turn out to be another Malaysian internet chess player.

The ICC used to be free but it has been almost a year since it began charging an annual membership fee. A six-month membership costs US$29 (about RM74) while a one-year membership is US$49 (about RM125). Student or youth membership costs US$14.50 (about RM37) for six months and US$24.50 (about RM63) for a year.

Non-members are also welcome to log into the ICC as guests. Although you can also play games with other players, such games are unrated by the ICC.

Who, then, are the people who hang around the Internet Chess Club? More often than not, they are just amateurs with a keen interest in the game. But the number of Fide-rated players is increasing, especially titled players like American grandmaster Roman Dzhindzhihashvili. Chess-playing computers are also on-line, and they are ever ready to meet your challenge.

So how do you log into the ICC? First of all, you will need an Internet account and this is provided by the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS) through their Jaring network.

Next, you will want a Telnet programme such as Ewan, CommNet or Qvtnet. The Telnet address for the Internet Chess Club is chess.lm.com and once you are connected, you will be required to log in using your username and password. Guests should log in as g and follow the on-line instructions accordingly.

Unfortunately, the problem with these Telnet programmes is that the chessboard is displayed in ascii mode. This is very confusing when you are playing or observing a game.

My recommendation is to use slics22f which, to me, is the best windows-based graphical interface for the ICC. This programme, written by Don Fong, can be downloaded from the ICC.

To retrieve this file, ftp to chess.lm.com using "anonymous" as the username and your e-mail address as the password. The sub-directory is pub/icc/interface/win3 and the name of the file is slics22f.zip.

You will have to unzip the file and customise the settings before using, but all the instructions are available in the zipped file.

Slics22f has its own Telnet application and once the programme is run, the user sees a chessboard on the screen. Moves are made by dragging the pieces around with a mouse.

If you have an Internet account and are in Penang tomorrow, you may wish to see a short demonstration of slics and the Internet Chess Club at the monthly meeting of the North Malaysian Internet Society meeting at the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Pusat Teknoloji Maklumat at 3pm.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Selection of games from the recent Asian team chess championship in Singapore.

Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam) - Wong Meng Kong (Singapore)

1. d4 d5, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Be7, 4. cxd5 exd5, 5. Bf4 c6, 6. e3 Bf5, 7. Nge2 Nd7, 8. Ng3 Bg6, 9. Be2 Nf8, 10. O-O Ne6, 11. Bg4 Nf6, 12. Bh3 O-O, 13. Be5 Ng5, 14. Bf5 Nge4, 15. Bxe4 Nxe4, 16. Ngxe4 dxe4, 17. Qb3 b6, 18. Qa4 b5, 19. Qc2 Bd6, 20. Bxd6 Qxd6, 21. Ne2 Rfe8, 22. Rfc1 Rac8, 23. Qc5 Qb8, 24. Rc2 f6, 25. Rac1 Bf7, 26. b3 Be6, 27. Ng3 Bd5, 28. Nf5 Rc7, 29. Qxd5+ cxd5, 30. Rxc7 Kh8, 31. Nd6 Rf8, 32. R1c6 h6, 33. h4 Kh7, 34. Nf5 Rg8, 35. h5 b4, 36. Re7 Rc8, 37. Rxc8 Qxc8, 38. Rxg7+ Kh8, 39. g4 Qc1+, 40. Kg2 Qd1, 41. Rg6 Qf3+, 42. Kg1 Qd1+, 43. Kh2 Qf1, 44. Rxh6+ Kg8, 45. Rxf6 Qxf2+, 46. Kh3 Qxa2, 47. Ne7+ Kh8, 48. Kh4 Qxb3, 49. h6 Qxe3, 50. g5 Qe2, 51. Rf8+ Kh7, 52. Rf7+ Kh8, 53. Ng6+ Kg8, 54. Rg7+ 1-0

Alexander Nenashev (Uzbekistan) - Rogelio Antonio (Philippines)

1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. e3 O-O, 5. Nge2 d5, 6. a3 Be7, 7. cxd5 exd5, 8. b4 c6, 9. Ng3 Bd6, 10. Bd3 Re8, 11. O-O Nbd7, 12. Qc2 Nf8, 13. b5 Bd7, 14. a4 Rc8, 15. Ba3 Bb8, 16. Rfc1 Ng4, 17. Nf1 Qg5, 18. Qd2 Ng6, 19. a5 Nh4, 20. f4 Qh6, 21. a6 Nxe3, 22. axb7 Rcd8, 23. Nxe3 Bxf4, 24. Ncd1 Rxe3, 25. Qa5 Nf3+, 26. Kf2 Qh4+ 0-1

Ruslan Irzhanov (Kazakhstan) - Cerdas Barus (Indonesia)

1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. e3 d5, 5. Bd3 c5, 6. Nf3 O-O, 7. O-O dxc4, 8. Bxc4 cxd4, 9. exd4 b6, 10. Bg5 Bb7, 11. Qe2 Bxc3, 12. bxc3 Nbd7, 13. Bd3 Qc7, 14. c4 Rfe8, 15. Rfe1 Ng4, 16. Be4 Bxe4, 17. Qxe4 Ngf6, 18. Qe2 Rac8, 19. Rac1 Qc6, 20. Qe3 Qa4, 21. Qb3 Qa6, 22. a4 h6, 23. Bf4 Qb7, 24. h3 Rc6, 25. Nd2 Rcc8, 26. Qb5 Red8, 27. Nf3 Nf8, 28. Be5 Ng6, 29. Bxf6 gxf6, 30. Qh5 Kh7, 31. g3 Rg8, 32. d5 Rc5, 33. Nd4 Qd7, 34. Nb3 Rc7, 35. dxe6 fxe6, 36. Qf3 Qf7, 37. Nd4 Ne5, 38. Qe2 Rd7, 39. Rcd1 Rgd8, 40. Nf3 Nd3, 41. Qc2 Kg7, 42. Re3 Nc5, 43. Ra1 Rd3, 44. Rxd3 Rxd3, 45. Ne1 Rd7, 46. a5 Qg6, 47. axb6 axb6, 48. Rb1 Qxc2, 49. Nxc2 Rd6, 50. Ne3 f5, 51. Rb2 Kf6, 52. Kf1 Ne4, 53. Ke2 Ke5, 54. c5 Rd8, 55. cxb6 Rb8, 56. Rc2 Kd4, 57. Rc4+ Ke5, 58. Rc6 Rb7, 59. f4+ Kf6, 60. Nd5+ Kg6, 61. Rxe6+ Kh5, 62. Kf3 Nd2+, 63. Kg2 Nc4, 64. Rc6 1-0

Nasib Ginting (Indonesia) - Serik Temirbaev (Kazakhstan)

1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 g6, 3. Nf3 Bg7, 4. g3 O-O, 5. Bg2 d6, 6. O-O Nc6, 7. Nc3 a6, 8. h3 Rb8, 9. e4 Nd7, 10. Be3 e5, 11. Rc1 h6, 12. b3 Kh7, 13. Qd2 b6, 14. Rfd1 Bb7, 15. dxe5 Ncxe5, 16. Nxe5 Nxe5, 17. f4 Nc6, 18. Qf2 Qc8, 19. Nd5 a5, 20. a3 Re8, 21. g4 Ne7, 22. Bd4 Ng8, 23. g5 Bxd4, 24. Rxd4 Rf8, 25. Qh4 Bxd5, 26. cxd5 Qd8, 27. Rdc4 Rb7, 28. Qg3 f6, 29. h4 fxg5, 30. hxg5 Ra7, 31. Bh3 Qe7, 32. e5 Rd8, 33. e6 Re8, 34. f5 hxg5, 35. fxg6+ Kxg6, 36. Bf5+ Kg7, 37. Rg4 Qf6, 38. Rxg5+ Kh8, 39. Rg6 Qd4+, 40. Kf1 1-0

Rogelio Antonio (Philippines) - Dashzeveg Sharavdorj (Mongolia)

1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. e5 Ne7, 5. a3 Bxc3+, 6. bxc3 c5, 7. h4 Qc7, 8. Nf3 b6, 9. h5 h6, 10. Bb5+ Bd7, 11. Bd3 Ba4, 12. O-O c4, 13. Be2 Na6, 14. Bf4 Kd7, 15. Nh2 Qd8, 16. Ng4 Qg8, 17. Ne3 Qh7, 18. Bg4 Nc7, 19. Bh3 Kc8, 20. Bg3 g6, 21. Qb1 Nc6, 22. Ra2 gxh5, 23. Rb2 Kb7, 24. Bh4 Rhg8, 25. g3 Raf8, 26. Bg2 f5, 27. f4 Kc8, 28. Bf3 Nd8, 29. Rb4 Qd7, 30. Qa2 Nf7, 31. Rfb1 Ng5, 32. Bg2 Rg6, 33. Qb2 Rfg8, 34. Kh2 Kd8, 35. Qc1 Kc8, 36. Qd1 Nb5, 37. Nxc4 Nxc3, 38. Qd3 Nxb1, 39. Nxb6 dxc4, 40. Qxc4+ Qc7, 41. Qa6+ Kd8, 42. Rb7 Qc8, 43. Qa5+ Ke8 1-0

Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam) - Alexander Nenashev (Uzbekistan)

1. d4 d5, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 c5, 4. cxd5 exd5, 5. Nf3 Nc6, 6. g3 c4, 7. Bg2 Bb4, 8. O-O Nge7, 9. Ne1 Bf5, 10. Nc2 O-O, 11. Nxb4 Nxb4, 12. Bg5 f6, 13. Bf4 Qd7, 14. a3 Nbc6, 15. b3 cxb3, 16. Qxb3 Nxd4, 17. Qd1 Ndc6, 18. Nxd5 Rad8, 19. Bc7 Rde8, 20. Nxe7+ Nxe7, 21. Qxd7 Bxd7, 22. Bxb7 Nf5, 23. Rfd1 Rf7, 24. e4 Ba4, 25. Bd5 Bxd1, 26. Rxd1 Nh6, 27. Rb1 g5, 28. Rb8 Rxb8, 29. Bxb8 a6, 30. h4 Kg7, 31. hxg5 fxg5, 32. Bxf7 Kxf7, 33. f4 Ng4, 34. Kg2 Ne3+, 35. Kf3 Nc4, 36. a4 Nd2+, 37. Ke3 Nf1+, 38. Kd3 Nxg3, 39. fxg5 Nh5, 40. Kd4 Ng7, 41. Kc5 Ne6+, 42. Kb6 Nxg5, 43. Kxa6 Nxe4, 44. a5 Nd2, 45. Kb5 1-0

Saydali Yuldashev (Kazakhstan) - Cao Sang (Vietnam)

1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. Nf3 g6, 4. d4 cxd4, 5. Nxd4 Bg7, 6. Be3 Nf6, 7. Bc4 d6, 8. h3 Bd7, 9. O-O O-O, 10. Bb3 Rc8, 11. f4 Qa5, 12. Qd3 Nb4, 13. Qd2 Na6, 14. Nde2 Nc5, 15. Ng3 Qc7, 16. Rae1 b5, 17. Bd4 Nxb3, 18. cxb3 Bc6, 19. b4 Qb7, 20. f5 Rcd8, 21. Kh1 Rd7, 22. Re2 e5, 23. fxe6 fxe6, 24. Be3 Rff7, 25. Rfe1 d5, 26. e5 Ne4, 27. Ncxe4 dxe4, 28. Qc3 Rd3, 29. Qc5 Bd5, 30. Rc1 Bxe5, 31. Bh6 Bg7, 32. Bxg7 Kxg7, 33. Nxe4 Qb8, 34. Ng5 Qg3, 35. Nxf7 Qxh3+, 36. Kg1 0-1