Although it was an ample show of strength by the Indian international masters at the Malaysia-India match in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, our local players came away from the match with their heads held high.
The three Indian international masters did not totally have an easy time during the 12-round match. Favoured though they were to win, none of them managed a clean slate against the Malaysians who showed that they were not over-awed by the occasion.
PS Mithrakanth, the winner of the match with 8 1/2 points, lost to Ooi Chern Ee while second-placed Lanka Ravi, on eight points, lost a game each to Mas Hafizulhelmi and Mok Tze Meng.
K Murugan probably had the most difficult time. He lost three games, all to Ooi, and he finished the event in fourth place. His loss in the last round was particularly disappointing as he overstepped the time control, but his position by then was already bad.
So each of the Indians lost at least once to our players but both Mithrakanth and Lanka Ravi had a huge surfeit of wins which ensured that they finished ahead of the Malaysians. The two foreigners scored six wins each, and the only comparable effort from the local players was Ooi's four wins in this event. Unfortunately, Ooi also lost four games and as a result, it was only a 50 per cent score for him.
Nevertheless, it is estimated that Ooi's international rating from his performance here in Kuala Lumpur has probably increased by 40 points.
Mas Hafizulhelmi started off the match in rather impressive manner. He was among the early leaders but he lost momentum after two losses in the middle stretch of the match. Thereafter, his play turned cautious and it seemed that he was more contented to draw his remaining games. Still, this strategy worked and he managed to keep his losses in this match to only three. Despite this cautious approach, Mas Hafizulhelmi's rating should climb marginally by eight points.
Mok was the only player to find himself out of his depth in this match. His high point was a nicely-constructed win against Lanka Ravi in the third round but after that, it was a struggle all the way for him. His rating is expected to suffer by nine points.
It was clear from the results of this match that our local players have generally made some inroads in upgrading their chess skills against foreign competition. There is still a lot of hard work ahead of them and it will not be easy, but will our players continue to find the time and effort to improve further? This match was probably a swan song for Ooi as his studies must now take centre stage. His objective, after getting impressive results in the recent SPM examinations, is to qualify for tertiary education overseas. We shall be seeing a lot less of him in future.
Mas Hafizulhelmi, the current national champion, is also at a crossroad since he will be sitting for his examinations this year but probably for him, there are still several months of profitable chess playing left in him before he begins to concentrate on his studies.
It is unfortunate but true that talented school players eventually drop out of the game because of their studies while many adult players give chess a backseat because they need to further their careers. But real chess addicts, it is observed, will always find their way back into the game after the completion of their studies.
The Malaysia-India match, played at the SuCasa Hotel Apartments in Kuala Lumpur, was sponsored jointly by Tan & Tan Development Berhad and Ipoh Garden Berhad. The organiser was the Malaysian Chess Federation.
Final standings: PS Mithrakanth 8 1/2 points; Lanka Ravi 8 points; Ooi Chern Ee 6 points; K Murugan 5 1/2 points; Mas Hafizulhelmi 5 points; and Mok Tze Meng 3 points.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Here are the six games in the Malaysia-India match which were won by the Malaysians.
Mas Hafizulhelmi - Lanka Ravi
1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 d6, 6. Bg5 e6, 7. Qd2 a6, 8. O-O-O h6, 9. Bf4 Bd7, 10. Nxc6 Bxc6, 11. Bxd6 Bxd6, 12. Qxd6 Qxd6, 13. Rxd6 Bxe4, 14. Rd2 Bc6, 15. f3 Ke7, 16. Bd3 Rhd8, 17. Rhd1 Rd6, 18. Be2 Rad8, 19. a4 Rxd2, 20. Rxd2 Rxd2, 21. Kxd2 a5, 22. Bb5 Kd6, 23. Bxc6 Kxc6, 24. Kd3 Nd5, 25. Nxd5 Kxd5, 26. f4 f6, 27. c3 e5, 28. fxe5 fxe5, 29. b3 h5, 30. g3 b6, 31. Ke3 e4, 32. h3 Ke5, 33. b4 Kd5, 34. b5 Kc4, 35. Kxe4 Kb3, 36. Kd5 Kxa4, 37. c4 Kb3, 38. c5 a4, 39. cxb6 a3, 40. b7 a2, 41. b8=Q a1=Q, 42. Qe5 Qa8+, 43. Kc5 Qa7+, 44. Kc6 Qa8+, 45. Kb6 Qd8+, 46. Qc7 Qf6+, 47. Kb7 Qf3+, 48. Ka7 h4, 49. gxh4 Qxh3, 50. Qe7 Qc3, 51. Qe6+ Ka4, 52. b6 Kb5, 53. Qd5+ Ka4, 54. b7 1-0
Ooi Chern Ee - K Murugan
1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 d5, 4. cxd5 exd5, 5. Bg5 c6, 6. e3 Nbd7, 7. Bd3 Be7, 8. Nf3 h6, 9. Bf4 O-O, 10. h3 Re8, 11. Qc2 Nf8, 12. O-O-O Be6, 13. g4 Qa5, 14. g5 Ne4, 15. gxh6 g6, 16. Ne5 Rac8, 17. Rdg1 Kh7, 18. f3 Nxc3, 19. bxc3 f5, 20. Nxg6 Ba3+, 21. Kd1 1-0
Mok Tze Meng - Lanka Ravi
1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 d6, 6. Bc4 e6, 7. Be3 Be7, 8. Qe2 a6, 9. O-O-O Qc7, 10. f3 O-O, 11. g4 Na5, 12. Bd3 b5, 13. g5 Nd7, 14. f4 b4, 15. Nb1 Nc5, 16. Nd2 Re8, 17. Rhg1 Bb7, 18. h4 d5, 19. e5 Nxd3+, 20. Qxd3 Bf8, 21. h5 Nc4, 22. N2f3 a5, 23. g6 fxg6, 24. Ng5 Nxe3, 25. Qxe3 Bc5, 26. Qh3 Bxd4, 27. Rxd4 Rac8, 28. Rg2 Qb6, 29. Rd1 h6, 30. hxg6 hxg5, 31. Rh2 Kf8, 32. Qh8+ Ke7, 33. Qxg7+ Kd8, 34. Rh7 Rc7, 35. Qf6+ Kc8, 36. Rh8 Rxh8, 37. Qxh8+ Kd7, 38. Qh7+ Kc6, 39. g7 Qe3+, 40. Kb1 gxf4, 41. Qg6 Rxg7, 42. Qxg7 d4, 43. Qf6 Kd5, 44. Qe7 1-0
K Murugan - Ooi Chern Ee
1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. g3 Bb4+, 4. Bd2 Qe7, 5. Bg2 Nc6, 6. Nf3 Bxd2+, 7. Nbxd2 d6, 8. O-O a5, 9. e4 e5, 10. d5 Nb8, 11. Ne1 O-O, 12. Nd3 Na6, 13. a3 c6, 14. dxc6 bxc6, 15. b4 c5, 16. b5 Nc7, 17. a4 Ne6, 18. Ne1 Nd4, 19. Nc2 Bb7, 20. Ne3 g6, 21. Ra3 Nd7, 22. Nb1 Nb6, 23. Nc3 f5, 24. exf5 Bxg2, 25. Kxg2 gxf5, 26. Ncd5 Qb7, 27. Kh3 f4, 28. gxf4 exf4, 29. Nxb6 Qxb6, 30. Nd5 Qb7, 31. Rd3 Rae8, 32. Rg1+ Kh8, 33. Rxd4 cxd4, 34. Qxd4+ Re5, 35. Rg5 Qd7+, 36. Kg2 Rff5, 37. Rxf5 Qxf5, 38. Nxf4 Qe4+, 39. Qxe4 Rxe4, 40. Nd5 Rxc4, 41. b6 Rxa4, 42. h3 Ra3 0-1
Ooi Chern Ee - PS Mithrakanth
1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. f3 d5, 5. a3 Be7, 6. e4 dxe4, 7. fxe4 e5, 8. d5 Bc5, 9. Bg5 h6, 10. Bh4 Bd4, 11. Nf3 c5, 12. Qc2 O-O, 13. Nb5 Qa5+, 14. b4 cxb4, 15. Nfxd4 exd4, 16. Bxf6 gxf6, 17. Qd2 Na6, 18. Bd3 Nc5, 19. O-O Nxd3, 20. Qxd3 a6, 21. axb4 Qxb4, 22. Rxf6 axb5, 23. Rxa8 Qxc4, 24. Qg3+ Kh7, 25. Qf4 1-0
K Murugan - Ooi Chern Ee
1. Nf3 Nf6, 2. c4 c5, 3. Nc3 e6, 4. g3 b6, 5. Bg2 Bb7, 6. O-O d5, 7. cxd5 Nxd5, 8. d4 Nxc3, 9. bxc3 Be7, 10. Qd3 Nc6, 11. Bb2 O-O, 12. Rfd1 cxd4, 13. cxd4 Rc8, 14. a3 Na5, 15. Bc3 b5, 16. Rab1 a6, 17. a4 Bc6, 18. Ne5 Bxg2, 19. Kxg2 bxa4, 20. e4 f5, 21. Be1 Bd6, 22. Qxa6 Ra8, 23. Qe2 Bxe5, 24. dxe5 Qc7, 25. Rdc1 Qd7, 26. Bb4 Rfe8, 27. Bd6 Rec8, 28. exf5 exf5, 29. Qf3 Qe6, 30. Rc7 Re8, 31. Re7 Qc8, 32. Rxe8+ Qxe8, 33. Qxf5 Nc4, 34. Rc1 a3, 35. Qf3 Qa4, 36. Qd5+ Kh8 0-1
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