Asian highlights up Genting Highlands

The Malaysian Chess Federation has released its latest list of foreign federations that have responded to the invitation to play in the Asian cities team championship next month. The list looks interesting, and it is definitely an indication that we shall see a lot of good chess up in Genting Highlands.

Several of the federations are putting up possibly their best line-up of players. Although these are supposed to be only city teams, they are in reality their national teams in disguise! It reflects the seriousness which these federations are placing onto the championship.

Kazakhstan, for instance, has entered their Almaty team which will feature four grandmasters and one international master. The line-up is impressive. Almaty's first board player is GM Ruslan Irzhanov and his other team-mates are GM Pavel Kotsur, GM Serik Temirbaev, GM Bolat Asanov and IM Murtas Kazhgaleyev.

I do remember seeing Irzhanov playing on a much lower board three years ago when the Asian team championship was organised in Singapore. He is a very serious player, always pacing the tournament hall, thinking with his eyes peeled to the ground, whenever his opponent was thinking. I think we shall see more of his pacing in Genting.

Another team which has an impressive line-up is Tashkent, from Uzbekistan. Theirs is a six-player team comprising GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Mihail Saltaev, GM Saidali Yuldachev, GM Sergey Zagrebelny, IM Dmitry Kaiumov and IM Vladimir Egin.

Saltaev, Yuldachev and Zagrebelny are no strangers to our shores as they have played in several other Asian-level team events here in the past six or seven years. Of course, the Tashkent team is missing Alexander Nenashev, currently their top player, but I believe that even without Nenashev, the Tashkent team will be challenging for the top prize.

Despite the economic difficulties facing the Indonesians now, the Jakarta line-up is practically that of the Indonesian national team. GM Utut Adianto will be here, as also GM Ruben Gunawan and GM Edhi Handoko. These three players are the mainstays of any Indonesian team line-up. In Genting, they will be joined by IM Barus Cerdas (another regular face in the Indonesian team) and Sebastian Simanjuntak.

China will be represented in the Asian cities team championship by the Shijiazhuang team. This team, unfortunately, is not the best that China can assemble. I am surprised that they have not taken the effort to send a stronger combination. Still, they have GM Peng Xiaomin in the team, and also IM Zhang Zhong, FM Zhang Pengxiang and FM Wang Rui, apart from two unrated players in Zhang Dingneng and Hong Kemin.

But I suppose we cannot exactly write off the Chinese from winning one of the lesser honours in this team event. The two Fide Masters, for instance, are definitely no pushovers if their ratings can be taken as an indication. Their ratings are quite high, for example, Zhang Pengziang is rated at 2420.

Despite earlier indications to the contrary, Sydney is sending only a four-player team to Malaysia. The much-touted GM Ian Rogers who was supposed to be leading the Australians, is missing from the line-up. In his absence, Tim Reilly will be playing on the top board for the Sydney team. Their other players are Matthew Drummond, Adrian Lloyd and Brett Tindall.

The Singapore team line-up is rather enigmatic. Surely there are much more experienced players than Foo Hsiang Ming, Mark Chan, Navin Sawalani and Clement Chia? A surprise inclusion in this team is the septuagenarian Dr Lim Kok Ann. I do hope he really turns up to play in Genting, for his presence will be clear demonstration that chess can be for people of all ages.

I see two familiar names among the Auckland team members: that of Robert Gibbons and Peter Goffin. I have not seen them for more than 20 years. I think the last time I met them was in Penang and that was during the time of the first Asian team chess championship in 1974! The Auckland team also comprises Paul Spiller, Hilton Bennet and Barbara Mckinney.

According to the list from the Malaysian Chess Federation, the other city teams that shall be playing in Genting Highland are Beirut, Dubai and Sharjah (both from the United Arab Emirates), Delhi, Manila , Doha (from Qatar), Tehran and Talesh (both from Iran), Yangon and Hongkong.

I shall really welcome the presence of Hongkong in this event, for it clearly shows that the Hongkong Chess Federation remains a separate entity from the Chinese Chess Association. It is an example of China's "one country, two systems" policy extended to sports.

Meanwhile, there are 16 names in the list of players for the Asian women's championship which shall be held at the same time in Genting. Half of the 16 participants will be titled players and they will be led by WGM Eva Repkova of Lebanon. As the only woman grandmaster in the field and also the highest rated, Repkova must be the hot favourite to win the tournament.

The woman international masters are defending champion Tamin Upi Darmayana (Indonesia), former champions Anupama Gokhale and Bhagyashree Thipsay Sathe (both from India), and Maria Lucia Ratna Sulista (Indonesia).

Then there is also an old friend of Malaysia, woman Fide master Angela Khegai (Uzbekistan). She has been in Malaysia so many times that it is quite possible that some people have mistakened her for a local player. Two other WFMs in the tournament will be Rena Mamedova (also from Uzbekistan) and Ngan Phan Koshnitsky (Australia). Ngan Phan is the daughter-in-law of two old Australian friends of mine, Garry and Evelyn Koshnitsky.

The other foreign players in this tournament are Irina Gorshkova of Uzbekistan, Maria Sergeeva of Kazakhstan and Cynthia Yap of Singapore.

One familiar name for Malaysians will be that of Elaine Chong. Originally from Kuala Lumpur, Elaine now resides in New South Wales and will represent Australia in this tournament. She was the Australian girls' champion last year.

The four Malaysian representatives in the Asian women's championship will be Roslina Marmono, Nurul Huda Wahiduddin, Samantha Lee and Lim Jeannie.

AMBER TOURNAMENT

There is an interesting tournament now taking place in Monaco. The Amber tournament, now in its seventh year, features 12 players locked in battle over Rapid Chess and blindfold chess.

After eight rounds of the event, Alexei Shirov is leading the Rapid Chess section with six points and he is followed closely behind by Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Anatoly Karpov and Vassily Ivanchuk with five points each, Loek van Wely and Vladimir Kramnik with 4 1/2 points each, Matthew Sadler with four points, Jeroen Piket, Vesselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand and Joel Lautier with three points each, and Predrag Nikolic with two points.

Topalov, Anand and Ivanchuk with five points each, Lautier and Shirov with 4 1/2 points each, Piket and van Wely with four points each, Ljubojevic and Karpov with 3 1/2 points each, Nikolic with 2 1/2 points, and Sadler with a half point.

The winner of the tournament will be the person with the best combined scores. Thus, after eight rounds, the honours are currently being shared by Kramnik and Shirov who have each amassed 10 1/2 points. Ivanchuk still has chances to catch up with the duo since he is only a half-point behind them.

Readers with Internet access can go to http://www.tasc.nl/amber7 to view the details of this rather unique tournament.

UNIVERSITY TOURNAMENT

The International Islamic University Malaysia will organise a team tournament at the Hotel Midah in Kuala Lumpur on April 18 and 19. The university's chess club is organising the event together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Hotel Midah.

Cash prizes totalling more than RM4,000 will be offered to the winners. The champion team will also get custody of the Dato Sabaruddin Chik challenge trophy.

Entry fees are RM120 for universities and other inistutions of higher learning, RM100 for schools and RM150 for public teams.

For more details, contact Azlan of the IIU (tel: 03-681-4052 after 4pm) or Linda of Hotel Midah (tel: 03-273-9999 ext 617)

 

Chess champ on a roll

One of the strongest tournaments in chess history ended in Linares last week. In the final round of the tournament, all three games ended drawn and this left India's Viswanathan Anand in undisputed first place, half a point ahead of Alexei Shirov.

Anand, who had been playing solidly for most of the three-week event, catapulted himself to the front of the standings by winning two of his last three games against tail-enders Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov who were terribly out of form in this tournament.

In his final game, Anand drew comfortably with Vladimir Kramnik, currently the world number two, and then watched Shirov easily hold off Gary Kasparov in another drawn game.

Anand said after the event that he valued his Linares triumph as much as his results in Reggio Emilia in 1992, in which he finished ahead of Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, and the recent World Chess Federation's knock-out world championship tournament in Groningen.

Anand is obviously on a hot streak. After Groningen, he flew to Lausanne for his match with Karpov and within a few days of the end of this match, he played in the Category 17 Wijk aan Zee tournament in which he finished tied for the first place. He has now added Linares to his string of triumphs.

Immediately after winning the Linares event, Anand confirmed he would not play any match against Kramnik in Cazorla, Spain, to decide who would face Kasparov in Seville and Linares this October for a US$1.3 million (about RM5 million) showdown.

(This match was jointly announced a month ago by Linares organiser Luis Rentero who said a World Chess Council was being formed to look after the two matches. It was reported that when Anand's reluctance to play Kramnik surfaced, Rentero had tempted Shirov with: "If Anand doesn't play, you will take his place in Cazorla.")

"I have signed a contract with FIDE that prevents me from participating in world championships of other organisations. Even if it is true that the clause in question is poorly worded and maybe would not hold up in court, my signature binds me. I am a man of my word," said Anand.

Days earlier in an interview with The Hindu newspaper, Anand had said that he did not feel like breaking a document that he signed. "I feel uncomfortable with the idea. Just to sign something, then ignore it and play. I also feel that I have a legal obligation not to break it," he added.

Shirov, who finished second after leading the field for most of the way, was probably unlucky not to finish with at least a share of the first prize. The former Latvian grandmaster, who is now settled down in Spain, was well prepared and mentally determined. He produced some of the most convincing chess of his career.

The Linares tournament was probably one of the most disappointing for Kasparov. He won just one game - against Anand in the third round - but never again did he find the momentum to win any more. In fact, Kasparov also played fewer moves than the other players in the tournament.

Incidentally, before the tournament began, Kasparov had grandly announced the World Chess Council with Rentero. At the end of the tournament, Kasparov stood to be fined 500,000 pesetas (about RM12,500) by the same Renteros for playing too many short draws in Linares!

By Kramnik's own standard, his performance should be considered disappointing as he was considered a favourite for one of the top prizes. Kramnik managed to get some nice positions in his games but he was able to convert only two into a win. One of these games, a nice positional effort, was played against Svidler. His only loss was against Shirov.

For Peter Svidler, a three-time champion of Russia, his results in Linares could be considered quite satisfactory as this was his first competition among elite opponents. He recognised that none of his games would be easy and he brought along Nigel Short to prepare for this event.

Ivanchuk's certainly played below many people's expectations in Linares but he contributed greatly to the entertainment in the tournament by scoring a fine win against Shirov. As for Topalov, this was an event which he would like to forget for a long while. Nothing went right for him as he struggled through game after game.

Final standings: Anand 7 1/2 points, Shirov 7 points, Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik 6 1/2 points each, Peter Svidler 5 1/2 points, Vassily Ivanchuk 5 points, and Veselin Topalov 4 points.

PFS OPEN

The Penang Free School Chess Club will hold their annual PFS open tournament this Sunday at 8am.

This is an eight-round event and it will be played in the school hall. Entry fee is RM5 per person if you register by tomorrow, and RM7 per person on Sunday.

There are eight cash prizes, and the first prize winner will receive RM200 and a challenge trophy. Trophies will also be given to the best under-10, under-12, under-15 and under-18 players.

Time control for the tournament will be 20 minutes per player for each game in the first two rounds, and 25 minutes per player for each game in the subsequent rounds.

Registration can be made on-line to pfsopen@usa.net or alternatively, anyone interested can contact Lim Lih Fong (tel: 04-228-5045) or Teoh Soon Siang (tel: 04-828-2382).

PERAK GRAND PRIX

The Perak International Chess Association recently initiated a nine-leg chess grand prix. The first of the grand prix tournaments was organised three weeks ago, and the second leg will be held tomorrow and on Sunday at the Dewan Serbaguna on the first floor of the Perpustakaan Tun Razak in Ipoh.

Six rounds are scheduled for this weekend's tournament, and the time control is 60 minutes per player for each game. Only players who are born, residing, working or studying in Perak will be eligible to take part.

According to PICA secretary Eddy Fong, the overall grand prix standings will be based on the best five tournament performances of each player. The top 24 players at the end of the grand prix series will qualify for the Perak state championship in September this year. The interim grand prix standings will also be used for selecting Perak players to national events like the Merdeka team championship.

Those interested in playing in the second leg must register at the playing venue by 1.15pm tomorrow. For more details, contact WK Wong (tel: 05-366-1692).

Meanwhile, Wong Ming Wai won the Taman D.R. February open tournament in Ipoh last month. The 14-year-old player from Batu Gajah scored 5 1/2 points from six games in a field of 32 players. Wong is considered one of a group of up-and-coming young players in Perak.

Final Standings: Wong Ming Wai 5 1/2 points; Eddy Fong and Mohd Hussein b Jamil 5 points each; Ahmad Mudzafar b Ramli 4 1/2 points; Mohd Johan b Jamil, Aaron Yee, Ahmad Daud, Ooi Chong Hean and Azmi b Ishak 4 points each.

KLANG TEAM EVENT

The Klang High School Chess Club will organise an open team chess tournament over two consecutive Saturdays starting tomorrow. This will be a seven-round event, and it will be played in the school's library. Entry fee for each team of four players is RM28.

There are four cash prizes for the boys' category and three cash prizes for the girls' category. In addition to trophies for the five best teams in the boys' category and four best teams in the girls' category, board prizes will also be given.

For more details, contact Tor Wee Liam (tel: 03-341-2448), Yeo Kuan Lok (03-341-2635) or Lim Yee Nah (03-341-0784).

 

Lining up for Asian meet

With the Asian cities team championship due to start in little less than a month's time, the Malaysian Chess Federation has announced that there will be two local teams participating in the event.

Tentatively slotted in for the Kuala Lumpur team, which is practically the national team itself, are Mas Hafizulhelmi, Jimmy Liew, Mok Tze Meng, Lim Yee Weng, Ismail Ahmad and Mohd Azahari.

The players for the second team, representing Penang which won last year's Merdeka team championship state title, are Chuah Heng Meng, Yeoh Chin Seng, Goh Yoon Wah, Lim Chuin Hoong, Teng Wei Ping and Tan Hong Ghee.

In the event that any of them are unable to play, their replacements will be picked from the reserve list comprising Ng Tze Han, Ghalam Sani, Wong Ji Zing, Ng Ee Vern, Tan Wei Sin and Mohd Saprin Sabri.

According to the MCF secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, the other countries that have indicated interest in sending their city teams to this event are Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, India, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, Qatar, Iran, Indonesia, Myanmar and Australia.

The Asian cities event is one of two events which shall be organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort in Genting Highlands starting April 8.

The other event is the Asian women's chess championship. So far, Lebanon's woman grandmaster Eva Repkova and Uzbekistan's woman international master Memedova look almost certain to join the current champion, Upi Tamin Darmayana of Indonesia, and the previous winner, Bhagyashree Thipsay of India, in the line-up.

Malaysia's representatives in this event are tentatively Eliza Hanim Ibrahim, Samantha Lee and Roslina Marmono, while those on the reserve list are Eliza Hanum Ibrahim, Lim Jeannie and Nurulhuda Wahiduddin.

The Asian cities and the Asian women's events are sponsored by Resorts World Berhad. The Dubai Chess Club has also committed US$25,000 towards the cost of the Asian cities team championship.

The daily results of the two championships will be made available to Internet surfers who visit the official Asian cities homepage when the two events start next month. The address for the homepage is http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6485/

PENANG HOMEPAGE

Internet surfers can also visit the Penang Chess Association's homepage which was launched earlier this week by the association's president, Dr Toh Kin Woon, who is also a Penang state executive councillor.

By a coincidence, both the PCA and the Asian cities homepages are hosted by the Geocities web server. The address for the PCA homepage is http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/

Dr Toh, in a statement at the launch, said Penang chessplayers living overseas can now learn a little more about recent chess events in their home state. The homepage will also cover some national or international events that involve Penang chessplayers.

He said one of the first reports on the homepage touched on the PCA Canggih international open chess championship which the PCA organised last year in conjunction with its 25th anniversary. In later weeks, there shall be more interesting features added to this website.

PFS OPEN

The Penang Free School Chess Club will be organising their annual PFS open tournament on Mar 22 beginning 8am.

This is an eight-round event and it will be played in the school hall. Entry fee is RM5 per person if you register by the eve of the event, and RM7 per person on the day of the tournament.

There are eight cash prizes, and the first prize winner will receive RM200 and a challenge trophy. Trophies will also be given to the best under-10, under-12, under-15 and under-18 players.

Time control for the tournament will be 20 minutes per player for each game in the first two rounds, and 25 minutes per player for each game in the subsequent rounds.

Registration can be made on-line to pfsopen@usa.net or alternatively, anyone interested can contact Lim Lih Fong (tel: 04-228-5045) or Teoh Soon Siang (tel: 04-828-2382).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand has won the Linares super-grandmaster tournament in Spain. In the final round on Monday, he comfortably held Vladimir Kramnik to a draw with the black pieces.

Gary Kasparov, who was looking for a win to boost his standings in the tournament, could not make any headway against Alexei Shirov and had to agree to a draw when their game ended after 17 moves.

The third game of the final round of the tournament between Veselin Topalov and Vassily Ivanchuk also ended drawn. Due to the tournament having an odd number of players, Svidler rested in this round with a bye.

The final standings: Anand 7 1/2 points, Shirov 7 points, Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik 6 1/2 points each, Peter Svidler 5 1/2 points, Vassily Ivanchuk 5 points, and Veselin Topalov 4 points.

In the last two weeks, I had been recommending the official tournament web site at http://www.elpais.es/p/d/ajedrez3/1998/english.htm to readers with Internet access. There is, however, a more interesting unofficial site at http://www.ishipress.com/linares.htm.

This site gave a comprehensive day-by-day account of the tournament and although the Linares event has ended, it is not too late to visit it for a final round-up. My appreciation goes to meilin@tm.net.my for pointing me to this site.

Here are more interesting games from the event.

Alexei Shirov - Peter Svidler, Round 6

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 a6, 6. Be3 e5, 7. Nb3 Be6, 8. Qd2 Nbd7, 9. f3 h5, 10. O-O-O Rc8, 11. Kb1 Be7, 12. Nd5 Bxd5, 13. exd5 Nb6, 14. Bxb6 Qxb6, 15. g3 O-O, 16. Bh3 Ra8, 17. Rhe1 a5, 18. a4 Qc7, 19. Bf1 Rfc8, 20. Bb5 Bf8, 21. f4 exf4, 22. gxf4 Qb6, 23. Re2 Ne8, 24. f5 Nc7, 25. f6 g6, 26. Bd7 Rd8, 27. Be6 Re8, 28. Qg5 1-0

Vassily Ivanchuk - Vesselin Topalov, Round 7

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 a6, 6. Be3 e5, 7. Nb3 Be6, 8. f3 Be7, 9. Qd2 Nbd7, 10. g4 h6, 11. O-O-O b5, 12. Kb1 Nb6, 13. Na5 Qc7, 14. Bxb6 Qxb6, 15. Nd5 Bxd5, 16. exd5 Rc8, 17. b4 O-O, 18. h4 Rc7, 19. Bh3 Nh7, 20. Bg2 Rfc8, 21. Nc6 Nf6, 22. f4 Nxg4, 23. Bh3 h5, 24. Rhg1 f5, 25. fxe5 dxe5, 26. Rgf1 Rf8, 27. Nxe7+ Rxe7, 28. d6 Ref7, 29. Bxg4 hxg4, 30. Qd5 f4, 31. Qxe5 g3, 32. Qd5 Qb7, 33. Qxb7 Rxb7, 34. d7 Rxd7, 35. Rxd7 f3, 36. Rdd1 f2, 37. Rg1 fxg1=Q, 38. Rxg1 Rf3, 39. Kc1 Kh7, 40. Kd1 Kh6, 41. Ke2 Rc3, 42. Kd2 Ra3, 43. c3 g2, 44. Ke2 Rxa2+, 45. Kf3 Kh5, 46. Kg3 Rc2, 47. Ra1 Rxc3+, 48. Kxg2 Rc4, 49. Rxa6 Rxh4, 50. Ra7 g6, 51. Rh7+ Kg5, 52. Rxh4 Kxh4 0-1

Alexei Shirov - Vassily Ivanchuk, Round 9

1. e4 c6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 dxe4, 4. Nxe4 Nd7, 5. Ng5 Ndf6, 6. Bc4 e6, 7. Qe2 Bd6, 8. Bd2 Qc7, 9. O-O-O b6, 10. N1f3 h6, 11. Nh3 Ne7, 12. Ne5 c5, 13. Bb5+ Kf8, 14. Nc4 cxd4, 15. Nxd6 Qxd6, 16. Bf4 Qd5, 17. Be5 Nf5, 18. c4 Qc5, 19. Qf3 Qxe5, 20. Qxa8 Qc7, 21. Qc6 Qb8, 22. Qf3 Bb7, 23. Qa3+ Kg8, 24. f3 g5, 25. Ba4 e5, 26. Rhe1 Kg7, 27. Bc2 Nh4, 28. Rd2 Rc8, 29. Kb1 Rxc4, 30. Ng1 Rc5, 31. g3 Ra5, 32. Qd3 Ng6, 33. Bb3 Qd6, 34. Rc2 e4, 35. Qc4 Ne5, 36. Qc7 Qb4, 37. Rd1 Bd5, 38. Bxd5 Rxd5, 39. fxe4 Nxe4, 40. a3 Qb5, 41. Ka2 d3, 42. Rcc1 d2, 43. Rc2 Nd3, 44. Rcxd2 Rc5, 45. Qd8 Qc4+, 46. b3 Nc3+, 47. Ka1 Ra5 0-1

 

Asian chess meet

When I was in Kuala Lumpur last September for the Merdeka team championship, one of the first questions I put to Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid was whether there was any truth that the MCF had been asked to organise the Asian cities team championship.

Yes, according to Hamid, who showed me the fax that he had received from the Dubai Chess & Culture Club. In the fax, Dubai had offered US$25,000 to the MCF for organising the event.

But Hamid implored me to keep this tournament out of the news until he had worked out a sponsorship programme. His intention was to organise a chess festival in which the Asian cities tournament would be one of the main attractions.

That was in September, half a year ago.

The passage of time has, however, upset all the planning. The depreciation of the ringgit and the subsequent economic downturn, has put paid to Hamid's idea of a chess festival.

Instead, we are left with the Asian cities event and one other tournament, the Asian women's chess championship, which shall be run concurrently beginning April 8 at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf & Country Resort.

Still, getting Resorts World Berhad to fully sponsor the board and lodging for some 200-odd players and officials is a big achievement for the MCF. Conservatively, the sponsorship deal could amount to something like RM125,000 to RM150,000; it is not cheap to organise an international chess event.

The Asian cities event is a team tournament where cities from all Asian and Oceanic countries that are affiliated to the World Chess Federation (Fide) are eligible to participate. The winning city team will be awarded the Dubai Cup.

In the previous championship two years ago in Dubai, Tashkent emerged as the winner with Samarkand and Askabad coming second and third respectively.

The MCF expects about 30 teams from the 40 member federations that make up Fide's Zones 3.1 to 3.4 to respond to this event.

The Genting venue will be the third occasion that the Asian cities championship is held in Malaysia. The first time was in 1984, in Penang, and the second in 1994 when Kuala Lumpur hosted it.

Simultaneously with the team event, the top Asian women will be playing in their own tournament for the Indira Gandhi challenge trophy. This is a Fide continental individual championship which is held biennially.

Two years ago, Indonesia's Tamin Upi Darmayana broke India's grip on the event by becoming the first non-Indian to take the title.

MAIL

I am very involved in chess development and have watched the game grow from strength to strength. At a time when the nation is crying for children to stay away from drugs and the streets, someone has decided to take chess and two other games off the Malaysian Schools Sports Council's competition calendar.

Do you see chess players fighting or bashing up one another? People who have never seen chess competitions should step into a hall with over a hundred players and admire the disciplined atmosphere.

The spirit of competition and mental strength are what make men great. In the past few years, Malaysia has produced young chess players who are making the country proud. Instead of being taken off the MSSM calendar, I strongly believe more funds should be invested in this game than many others.

The reason given for striking out chess and two games is because of money. However, there are many other ways for cost-cutting, and the main one I know should be the abolishment of the state dinners for every game. For the future of our youths, I urge the parents, officials and fair-minded Malaysians to speak up and pray that good sense will prevail. - Eoh Hook Kim, Penang

I share your sentiments and I certainly hope the Malaysian Schools Sports Council will change its mind. I was told by Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid that he had tried unsuccessfully to meet the council secretary general. Instead, he managed to see Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn who expressed his surprise at the exclusion of chess. Hamid said Fong had pledged to look iinto this matter.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

After seven rounds of the Linares super-grandmaster tournament, Alexei Shirov is now the sole leader despite the defeat which he suffered at the hands of Viswanathan Anand in the first round.

At the half-way point of the tournament, Shirov has four points while half-a-point behind him are Gary Kasparov, Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler have 2.5 points each, while Vassily Ivanchuk takes cellar position with 1.5 points.

Readers with Internet access can connect to the tournament web site at http://www.elpais.es/p/d/ajedrez3/1998/english.htm

Here are some interesting games from the event.

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler, Round 2

1. e4 g6, 2. d4 Bg7, 3. Nc3 d6, 4. Be3 a6, 5. Nf3 b5, 6. Bd3 Nd7, 7. e5 Bb7, 8. e6 fxe6, 9. Ng5 Nf8, 10. O-O Nf6, 11. Re1 Qd7, 12. Bd2 h6, 13. Nf3 Rb8, 14. a4 b4, 15. Ne4 Nxe4, 16. Bxe4 Bxe4, 17. Rxe4 Qc6, 18. Re3 Qc4, 19. c3 b3, 20. Re1 g5, 21. Be3 Qd5, 22. Qd3 a5, 23. Ra3 Kf7, 24. Nd2 Ng6, 25. Qe2 Nh4, 26. f3 Ng6, 27. c4 Qf5, 28. Ne4 Kg8, 29. Qd1 Rb4, 30. Rxb3 Rxc4, 31. Rb5 Qf7, 32. Rxa5 Kh7, 33. Rb5 d5, 34. Nc5 Qf5, 35. b3 Rc3, 36. Qd2 Rc2, 37. g4 Nh4, 38. gxf5 Nxf3+, 39. Kh1 Nxd2, 40. Re2 Nc4, 41. Rxc2 Nxe3, 42. Re2 1-0

Vassily Ivanchuk - Alexei Shirov, Round 2

1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bc4 Bc5, 4. c3 Nf6, 5. d3 d6, 6. Qe2 Bb6, 7. Bg5 h6, 8. Bh4 Qe7, 9. Nbd2 g5, 10. Bg3 Bg4, 11. Nf1 Nh5, 12. Bb5 Nf4, 13. Bxf4 gxf4, 14. N1d2 Rg8, 15. g3 fxg3, 16. fxg3 O-O-O, 17. a4 Nb8, 18. a5 Bc5, 19. Bc4 a6, 20. h3 Be6, 21. g4 Nd7, 22. Bxa6 bxa6, 23. d4 Nb8, 24. dxc5 dxc5, 25. O-O-O Qe8, 26. Nxe5 Qa4, 27. Rhf1 Rge8, 28. c4 Rd4, 29. Kb1 Red8, 30. Rf3 Rxe4 0-1

Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik, Round 2

1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nf3 d5, 4. Nc3 Be7, 5. Bg5 h6, 6. Bh4 O-O, 7. e3 b6, 8. Be2 Bb7, 9. Bxf6 Bxf6, 10. cxd5 exd5, 11. b4 c6, 12. O-O a5, 13. b5 c5, 14. Re1 Re8, 15. Rc1 Nd7, 16. g3 Nf8, 17. Na4 c4, 18. Bf1 Qd6, 19. Bg2 Rad8, 20. h4 Ne6, 21. Nc3 g6, 22. Nd2 Ba8, 23. h5 g5, 24. Nf1 Be7, 25. g4 Qd7, 26. Ng3 Ng7, 27. a4 Bb4, 28. Bh3 Bb7, 29. Qc2 Bd6, 30. Nf5 Nxf5, 31. gxf5 Bb4, 32. Kg2 Qd6, 33. f3 Re7, 34. Re2 Rde8, 35. Rce1 Qf6, 36. Bg4 Bd6, 37. Qd1 Bb4, 38. Qc2 Rd8, 39. Rd1 Bc8, 40. e4 Bxc3, 41. e5 Rxe5, 42. dxe5 Bxe5, 43. Rde1 Bc7, 44. Re8+ Kg7, 45. Rxd8 Bxd8, 46. Rd1 Bb7, 47. f4 d4+, 48. Bf3 d3 0-1

Alexei Shirov - Veselin Topalov, Round 3

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 e6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 a6, 5. Bd3 Qb6, 6. Nb3 Qc7, 7. Qe2 Nf6, 8. Nc3 d6, 9. f4 Be7, 10. e5 dxe5, 11. fxe5 Nfd7, 12. Bf4 Nc6, 13. O-O Ndxe5, 14. Rae1 Qb6+, 15. Kh1 Nxd3, 16. Qxd3 O-O, 17. Qg3 Kh8, 18. Bc7 Qa7, 19. Na4 f6, 20. Bb6 Qb8, 21. Bc7 Qa7, 22. Nb6 e5, 23. Nxa8 Qxa8, 24. Rd1 Re8, 25. Bd6 Bd8, 26. Nc5 b6, 27. Ne4 Nd4, 28. Bxe5 Nf5, 29. Qg4 Ne3, 30. Qh5 Rg8, 31. Qf3 Nxd1, 32. Nd6 Qa7, 33. Nxc8 Qd7, 34. Nd6 1-0

Peter Svidler - Vassily Ivanchuk, Round 3

1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 a6, 6. Be2 e6, 7. O-O Be7, 8. a4 O-O, 9. f4 Qc7, 10. Kh1 Rd8, 11. Bf3 Nc6, 12. Be3 Ne5, 13. Be2 b6, 14. Qe1 Nc4, 15. Bc1 Bb7, 16. b3 Na5, 17. Bf3 Nd7, 18. Bb2 Bf6, 19. Rd1 Rac8, 20. f5 Bxd4, 21. Rxd4 Nc6, 22. Rd2 Nce5, 23. fxe6 fxe6, 24. Be2 Nc5, 25. Qg3 Rf8 26. Rfd1 Rcd8, 27. Qe3 Bc6, 28. Ba3 a5, 29. h3 h6, 30. Rd4 Rf6, 31. Bb2 Nb7. 32. R4d2 Rff8, 33. Kg1 Nc5 34. Rd4 Kh7, 35. Bh5 Rd7, 36. Nb5 Bxb5, 37. axb5 Qd8, 38. Qg3 Qe7, 39. Kh2 Kg8, 40. Bc1 Qf6 41. Be3 Kh8 42. R1d2 Kh7, 43. Bd1 Qe7, 44. Bh5 Qf6, 45. Bd1 Qe7, 46. c3 Rf6, 47. b4 Nb7, 48. Qxe5 dxe5 49. Rxd7 1-0

Gary Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand, Round 3

1. e4 c6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nd2 dxe4, 4. Nxe4 Nd7, 5. Ng5 Ngf6, 6. Bd3 e6, 7. N1f3 Bd6, 8. Qe2 h6, 9. Ne4 Nxe4, 10. Qxe4 Qc7, 11. Qg4 Rg8, 12. Nd2 Nf6, 13. Qf3 e5, 14. dxe5 Bxe5, 15. Nc4 Be6, 16. Bd2 O-O-O, 17. O-O-O Nd7, 18. Rhe1 Rge8, 19. Kb1 g5, 20. h4 Bf4, 21. Bxf4 gxf4, 22. Bf5 Nf8, 23. Qh5 Kb8, 24. Bxe6 Nxe6, 25. a4 Qe7, 26. Qe5+ Qc7, 27. Qh5 Qe7, 28. b3 Qf6, 29. Ne5 Re7, 30. Ng4 Rxd1+, 31. Rxd1 Qg7, 32. f3 Re8, 33. Qf5 Ka8, 34. h5 Rf8, 35. Rd7 1-0 (on time)