New Asian woman champion

XU YUHUA, the 22-year-old woman international master from Hangzhou, China, is the new winner of the Asian Women's Individual Chess Championship.

She was undefeated throughout the 11-round competition and finished the clear winner with 8 1/2 points from 11 games. The championship, which began on April 9, ended on Tuesday at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf And Country Resort, Pahang.

With this victory, Xu gained possession of the Indira Gandhi challenge trophy and bagged US$500 in the process. Xu, the 1996 Asian junior girls' champion, also gained her third woman grandmaster title norm in this event.

Lebanese woman grandmaster Eva Repkova came in second. Repkova had been expected to challenge Xu for the top prize and indeed, after the ninth round had seemed set to do so, but an unexpected loss to Vietnamese player Le Thi Phuong Lien in the 10th round dashed her hopes.

In the final round last Tuesday, Repkova showed none of the effects of this loss to collect the full point from the Australian women's champion, Ngan Phan-Kostnistsky.

Repkova ended the tournament with eight points and with it, the second prize of US$400. Her closest rival, Rena Mamedova from Uzbekistan, lost to Vietnam's Nguyen Thoan Hua and stayed third with seven points.

Interestingly, just minutes into the start of the 10th round on Monday, the head of the Vietnamese contingent to the championship, Dang Tat Thang, mentioned casually to one of the arbiters that Repkova would lose her game to Le. It became apparent, as the game unfolded, that Repkova had walked into a line prepared by the Vietnamese.

Le proceeded to show her opponent the extent of her preparation, and Repkova, unable to put up any resistance, soon conceded the game to her when the checkmating threats could no longer be stopped.

Despite this loss, I found Repkova to be the most elegant player in the event. In most of her games, whenever she found herself with an advantage on the chessboard, she played dynamically to finish off her opponent in the most economical and straightforward manner.

My observations about Repkova should in no way distract us from the fact that Xu is also a very accomplished player.

Xu played with an air of calm and confidence. Her style is less tactical, but she would be patiently collecting small advantages at all stages of her game.

Nevertheless, being a less dynamic player than Repkova meant that she was more susceptible to drawing her games. In the tournament, she made no less than four significantly drawn games.

The closest I ever saw her come to a disadvantage in any of her games was in the ninth round when spirited play from Mamedova forced her to simplify into an end game where she was left with two pawns against Mamedova's knight and pawn. But Xu had seen to it that the position was still a draw.

Among all the players in the field, the one person who gave me the impression of being a very difficult opponent was Tamin Upi Darmayana.

Tamin Upi was the defending champion. Her resistance collapsed towards the end of the championship but she accounted for herself very well in the middle rounds.

She was a very game fighter, unwilling to concede much in her games, and she often found the resources to win or to save a lost position.

The Malaysian Chess Federation entered four local players in this tournament and I was glad to see that our players did not disgrace themselves.

Nurul Huda Wahiduddin and Samantha Lee gave good accounts of themselves, scoring 4 1/2 points each, and both Roslina Marmono and Lim Jeannie were not too far behind with four points each.

The Asian Women's Individual Chess Championship, like the Asian Cities Team Chess Championship which ended a week earlier, was organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation and fully sponsored by Resorts World Bhd.

Final standings: Xu Yuhua (China) 8 1/2 points; Eva Repkova (Lebanon) 8 points; Mekhri Ovezova (Turkmenistan) 7 1/2 points; Rena Mamedova (Uzbekistan) and Le Thi Phuong Lien (Vietnam) 7 points; Bagyashree Thipsay Sathe (India), Nguyen Thi Dung (Vietnam), Irina Gorshkova (Uzbekistan) and Nguyen Thi Thuan Hoa (Vietnam) 6 1/2 points;

Angela Khegai (Uzbekistan), Maria Lucia Sulistya (Indonesia), Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky (Australia) and Anupama Gokhale (India) 6 points; Tamin Upi Darmayana (Indonesia) 5 1/2 points; Maisa Ovezova (Turkmenistan) 5 points; Nurul Huda Wahiduddin (Malaysia), Samantha Lee (Malaysia) and Maral Ovezova (Turkmenistan) 4 1/2 points; Roslina Marmono (Malaysia) and Lim Jeannie (Malaysia) 4 points; Cynthia Yap (Singapore) 1 point; and Lee Wing-Ian (Macau) 0 point.

 

Close fight till the end

What an exciting finish it has been for the Asian cities team chess championship which concluded on Wednesday at the Awana Genting Highland Golf and Country Resort.

The tournament had gone into the final round with three teams having a chance to carry off the Dubai Cup and the first prize of US$3,000 (about RM10,800). Shijiazhuang (China) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) were leading the pack of 26 teams with 25 1/2 points each while Palembang (Indonesia) was on 24 points.

Theoretically, Palembang would have a chance to catch up on equal points with the leaders if they were to score 4-0 against Beirut (Lebanon) in the final round and if Shijiazhuang and Tashkent happened to drop 1 1/2 points in their respective encounters with Chrompet (India) and Padang (Indonesia). If this had happened, the championship standings would have to be decided by a tie-break.

The interesting question is how, in the first instance, Shijiazhuang or Tashkent had allowed this interesting ending to occur.

When the event started some nine days ago, Shijiazhuang had jumped into the lead by mercilessly hammering the Penang and Beirut teams 4-0. Tashkent had also scored the maximum points against Kuala Lumpur in the first round, but only managed a 3 1/2-1/2 score against Chrompet in the second round.

The two tournament leaders met in the third round and Shijiazhuang upsetted the defending champion 3-1 to take the lead.

At the same time, Palembang beat Singapore 3 1/2-1/2, Sydney (Australia) 3 1/2-1/2 and Tehran (Iran) 3-1, to creep into third position. Palembang met the Chinese players in the fourth round, and were narrowly beaten 1 1/2-2 1/2. Shijiazhuang next played Padang (Indonesia) in the fifth round and beat them 3-1.

But Tashkent kept on to Shijiazhuang's back by beating Talesh (Iran) 3 1/2-1/2 in the fourth round and Palembang 2 1/2-1 1/2 in the fifth round. Where Shijiazhuang was concerned, after having disposed of their nearest rivals - Tashkent and Palembang - the way seemed clear for them to maintain their comfortable lead and coast to victory in the remaining rounds.

Not so, unfortunately. On the tournament's rest day, the Chinese players chose to go to Petaling Jaya to play in the Amcorp blitz tournament. It was a trip which probably lost them their comfortable two-point lead.

After returning from Petaling Jaya, Shijiazhuang could only score narrow 2 1/2-1 1/2 wins over Tehran and Yangon (Myanmar) in the sixth and seventh rounds.

Tashkent, on the other hand, chalked up a 2-2 draw with Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) in the sixth round and a 3-1 win against Tehran in the seventh.

The result, at the end of the seventh round, was a shock for Shijiazhuang. Their lapses had cost them dearly, and suddenly they found themselves tied with Tashkent with 21 1/2 points.

The eighth round left the status quo unchanged. Tashkent disposed of Yangon 4-0 while Shijiazhuang beat Karachi (Pakistan) also by the same score. The stage was thus set for an interesting finish in the final round of play.

The Asian cities was only one of two events going on at the Genting Highlands. The other was the Asian women's individual championship where, after six rounds, the sole lead was in the hands of Xu Yuhua (China). Xu, the highest rated player in this event, overwhelmed Uzbekistan's Angela Khegai in the sixth round.

Wait a minute. I should not keep you in suspense any further, should I? I am sure you want to know the outcome of the Asian cities team championship first.

Well, the long and short of the story is that, yes, Shijiazhuang won the title. It was a close race but Tashkent's challenge fizzled out. Tashkent could only manage a 2-2 draw with Padang while Shijiazhuang won handsomely by a 3 1/2-1/2 score against Chrompet.

Final standings: Shijiazhuang 29 points; Tashkent and Palembang 27.5 points each; Tehran and Padang 20 points each; Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City and Talesh 19.5 points; Yangon 19 points; Beirut, Doha, Singapore and Mandalay 18.5 points; Chrompet, Sydney, Shah Alam and Karachi 18 points; Dubai and Auckland 17.5 points; Johor Bahru 17 points; Abu Dhabi and Penang 16 points; Pontianak 15.5 points; Macau 11 points; Bandar Seri Begawan 9.5 points; and Hong Kong 1 point.

The participants were very appreciative of the superb facilities provided by the sponsor, Resorts World Berhad. Apart from the full board and lodging, the facilities at the hotel created an atmosphere really conducive to chess playing.

The run-up to the two events, covered by the national dailies, had helped promote an awareness in the country. I recognised people who made repeated trips to the Awana in order to watch the various teams and players.

The official website, located at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6485/ registered more than 2,800 hits during the first eight days of the Asian cities team and Asian women's individual championships. Yes, I would say that publicity for these two events has not been lacking.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Here are several interesting games from the Asian cities team event.

Rustam Kasimdhanov - Peng Xiaomin

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Rd8 13. Nf1 cxd4 14. cxd4 exd4 15. Nxd4 d5 16. e5 Ne4 17. Nd2 Bc5 18. N2f3 Bb7 19. Bf4 Rac8 20. Rc1 Qb6 21. Bb1 Nc4 22. Re2 Re8 23. Rcc2 Rcd8 24. Nb3 Bf8 25. Qd4 Qxd4 26. Nbxd4 Bc5 27. Rc1 Bb6 28. b3 Na3 29. Bd3 g6 30. Be3 b4 31. Bd2 a5 32. Be3 Nc3 33. Rd2 Rc8 34. Re1 Ne4 35. Rdd1 Rc3 36. Nf5 Bxe3 37. Nxe3 Nc5 38. Bf1 Nc2 39. Nxc2 Rxc2 40. Rc1 Rxc1 41. Rxc1 Ne6 42. g3 Ra8 43. Bb5 g5 44. Bd7 d4 45. Nd2 Bd5 46. Kf1 Rd8 47. Bb5 Kg7 48. Bc4 h6 49. Ke2 Bxc4+ 50. Rxc4 Rd5 51. Nf3 Kg6 52. Kd2 h5 53. Rc8 0-1

Zhang Zhong - Saidali Yuldachev

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Qe2 c5 8. Nc3 Nd7 9. Nd5 O-O 10. b3 Bd6 11. Bb2 Re8 12. d3 Nf8 13. a4 a5 14. Rae1 Ng6 15. Kh1 Be6 16. Ne3 f6 17. g3 Qd7 18. h4 Ne7 19. h5 Rf8 20. Nh4 f5 21. f4 exf4 22. gxf4 fxe4 23. Qg2 Nf5 24. Nexf5 Bxf5 25. Rg1 Rf7 26. h6 Bg6 27. Bxg7 Qe6 28. Rxe4 Rxf4 29. Nxg6 hxg6 30. Rf1 Rxf1+ 31. Qxf1 Qd5 32. Qf3 Kh7 33. Kg2 c6 34. Kf2 b5 35. Ke2 Rd8 36. Qg4 bxa4 37. Re6 g5 38. bxa4 Bf4 39. Re5 Qf7 40. Qf5+ Qxf5 41. Rxf5 Rd5 42. Rf7 c4 1-0

Ng Tze-Han - Sakr Nassim

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Qd2 Qa5 11. Rad1 d5 12. e5 Nh5 13. Bh6 f5 14. Bxg7 Nxg7 15. Qh6 Ne6 16. a3 Be8 17. b4 Qd8 18. Bc4 dxc4 19. d5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Qc7 21. Rfe1 Nd8 22. Nf3 Nf7 23. Qh4 a5 24. Rxe7 Qd8 25. d6 Bc6 26. Ne5 axb4 27. Qf6 Be8 28. axb4 Ra6 29. Nxf7 Bxf7 30. Rxf7 Qxf6 31. Rxf6 Rxf6 32. d7 Rfd6 33. d8=Q+ Rxd8 34. Rxd8+ Kf7 35. g3 1-0

Tan Wee Sin - Arif Khouri

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Bd7 9. g4 Rc8 10. h4 Ne5 11. h5 gxh5 12. g5 Ng8 13. Rxh5 Qa5 14. Be2 Qb4 15. O-O-O Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. a3 Qc5 18. Nde2 Qa5 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. Nxd4 b5 21. Nb3 Qb6 22. Nd5 Qb8 23. Ne3 Rc6 24. Nd4 Rc5 25. Ndf5 Kf8 26. Qd4 f6 27. g6 hxg6 28. Rxh8 gxf5 29. Rg1 Bc6 30. Nxf5 Qb6 31. Kb1 Bd7 32. b4 Re5 33. Qxb6 axb6 34. f4 1-0

Zhang Pengxiang - Barus Cerdas

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Ba2 Qa5 12. Re1 Rad8 13. Qe2 Bc8 14. b4 Qh5 15. d5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. b5 Bf6 18. Bb2 Bxb2 19. Qxb2 Nb8 20. Re5 Qh6 21. Rxd5 Be6 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Re1 Bxa2 24. Qxa2 Qd6 25. h3 Nd7 26. Ng5 Qf6 27. Qd2 Nf8 28. Qe3 h6 29. Nf3 a6 30. a4 axb5 31. axb5 Ng6 32. Qe4 b6 33. g3 Nf8 34. Rc1 Qb2 35. Qc6 Ne6 36. Re1 Qa3 37. Ne5 Qd6 38. Qf3 Ng5 39. Qf5 g6 40. Qg4 Re8 41. f4 Qc5+ 42. Kg2 Qxb5 43. Re3 Qd5+ 44. Kh2 1-0

Mas Hafizulhelmi - Tim Reilly

1. e4 d6 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nxd5 5. Qf3 e6 6. Bc4 Nb4 7. Bb3 N8c6 8. Nge2 Na5 9. Ba4+ Bd7 10. a3 Bxa4 11. axb4 Bc6 12. Qg3 Nc4 13. b5 Bd7 14. O-O Nd6 15. Nd4 Qf6 16. Qf2 Nf5 17. Nf3 b6 18. Ne4 Qh6 19. c4 Nd6 20. Qe2 Qxf4 21. d3 Qg4 22. h3 Qh5 23. Neg5 Be7 24. g4 Qh6 25. Qg2 Qf6 26. d4 Bc8 27. Ne5 Bb7 28. Qh2 Nf5 29. gxf5 exf5 30. Be3 Bd6 31. Qf2 g6 32. Ngxf7 O-O 33. Bg5 Qe6 34. d5 Bxd5 35. cxd5 Qxd5 36. Rad1 Qxb5 37. Nxd6 cxd6 38. Nf3 Rae8 39. Rxd6 Re2 40. Nd4 Rxf2 41. Nxb5 Rxb2 42. Nxa7 Ra8 43. Rd7 Re8 44. Rc1 1-0

Asian cities and women's events

PLAYING SCHEDULE FOR THE ASIAN EVENTS

Today is the second day of play at the Asian cities team and the Asian women's individual chess championships, and here is the playing schedule for readers who intend to watch the action at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort.

The team event is held over nine rounds and already, two rounds have been completed. The third round starts today at 4pm, and tomorrow, there will be two rounds at 10am and 4pm. Sunday is a rest day, with play resuming on Monday with two rounds scheduled for 10am and 4pm.

On Tuesday, the eighth round will start at 4pm. Wednesday will be the last day of the team event with the final round scheduled to begin at 10am and the closing ceremony at 8pm.

The women's event is played over 11 rounds and except for the final round on April 21, all the games will begin at 2.30pm daily until April 20. The final round will start at 10am on April 21 in order to accommodate the closing ceremony on the same day at 8pm. The rest days for the competitors are on April 12 and 16.

Readers with Internet access should be able to follow the progress of the championships at the official Asian cities website at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6485/.

In conjunction with the two championships at Genting Highlands, the Chess Association of Selangor will be holding the Amcorp Mall national blitz open chess tournament this Sunday.

Since this is a rest day for the participants of the Asian cities and Asian women's events, many of them are expected to take part in the blitz tournament which shall be played at the Amcorp Mall in Persiaran Barat, Petaling Jaya.

The CAS, which is organising this event on behalf of the Malaysian Chess Federation, is offering a prize fund of RM2,500. The tournament will consist of a preliminary 13-round Swiss, and the top qualifiers will then play in a knock-out format for the main prizes.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the CAS, and RM15 for non-members. Registration for the tournament must be made at the Amcorp Mall tomorrow between 3pm and 5pm, as entries will not be accepted on Sunday.

For enquiries, contact either Lim Tse Pin (tel: 03-733-0927) or Mrs Jackie Wong (tel: 03-703-8237).

OTHER LOCAL EVENTS THIS MONTH

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

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. Non-Malaysian teams are charged RM180. For more details, contact Azlan Adnan of the IIU (tel: 03-681-4052 after 4pm, or 016-271-1522).

Meanwhile in Johor Bahru, the Johor branch of the Police Administrative and Civilian Staff Union and the Johor Bahru Chess Club are jointly organising a team tournament on April 26. This event will be played on the third floor of the Bangunan JOTIC in Jalan Air Molek, Johor Bahru.

Each team can register a maximum of four players, but only three will play in each round. The entry fee is RM50 per team, and entries will close on Apr 24. For more details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-333-8215).

SHIROV, KRAMNIK AND KASPAROV

Mark Crowther, who publishes the excellent This Week In Chess webpage on the Internet weekly (http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html) mentioned briefly that the Luis Rentero/Gary Kasparov's so-called World Chess Council has announced its plans for the rest of the year.

According to the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, Alexei Shirov will replace Viswanathan Anand after the latter had rejected an invitation to play Vladimir Kramnik. Rentero had offered the place to Shirov after his impressive performance in the Linares tournament last month, in which he finished second behind Anand.

Kramnik and Shirov will play in Cazorla, Spain, in a 10-game match starting May 22. The winner will play Kasparov in another match over 18 games beginning October 16. Rentero, the self-proclaimed president of the World Chess Council confirmed these details on March 20. The final match has a US$1.3 million prize tag and will take place in Seville and Linares.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Let's continue to talk about the seventh Melody Amber tournament this week. As you already know, the Melody Amber was actually two tournaments in one. In each round, the participants were required two games against the same opponent: one was a Rapid Chess game and the other, a blindfold game.

Because of these unusual circumstances, you cannot expect the quality of these games to be as good as those played in normal events such as the Linares or Tilburg. Still, these top players were able to produce some interesting chess.

There have been some good games in the tournament, such as the seventh round games between Viswanathan Anand and Loek van Wely which featured attractive sacrificial attacks down the h-file with each player winning with the white pieces.

In the eighth round, Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov revisited Gary Kasparov's 9...h5 novelty from his last-round game in Linares. Shirov immediately played a new move, 10 Nd5, but Topalov appeared to equalise easily. Topalov missed several opportunities and was probably even winning with his passed g-pawn at one point. However, Shirov was the one who inflicted the finishing blows in the game.

Finally, check out Vassily Ivanchuk's cute winning tactic against Vladimir Kramnik in their seventh-round blindfold game.

Loek van Wely - Viswanathan Anand, Round 7

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 e5 13. Rae1 h5 14. Nd1 h4 15. e4 hxg3 16. hxg3 Ng4 17. Bc3 Bh6 18. f3 Nf6 19. f4 Ng4 20. Nf2 Bg7 21. Bf3 Nxf2 22. Rxf2 Nb7 23. Rh2 Qe7 24. Kg2 Bd7 25. Reh1 Nd8 26. Nf1 f6 27. Ne3 Nf7 28. Bg4 bxc4 29. bxc4 Bxg4 30. Nxg4 Qd7 31. Ne3 Rb7 32. f5 g5 33. Ng4 Rfb8 34. Rh7 Kf8 35. Kf3 a5 36. Ke3 Rb4 37. Bxb4 axb4 38. Rxg7 Kxg7 39. Rh7+ Kf8 40. Nh6 1-0

Viswanathan Anand - Loek van Wely, Round 7

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. a4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Bd7 13. Nb3 b6 14. g4 Bc8 15. g5 Nd7 16. Bg2 Bb7 17. Qg4 Nb4 18. Rf2 Bf8 19. Rd1 g6 20. Qg3 Rac8 21. Rfd2 d5 22. e5 Nc5 23. Nd4 Ne4 24. Nxe4 dxe4 25. Ne2 Bc6 26. Nc3 Qb7 27. h4 b5 28. axb5 axb5 29. h5 Na6 30. Qh3 Bb4 31. Kg1 Bxc3 32. bxc3 Bd5 33. hxg6 fxg6 34. Bxe4 Nc7 35. Bxg6 hxg6 36. Rh2 1-0

Alexei Shirov - Vesselin Topalov, Round 8

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 h6 8. f4 e5 9. Nf5 h5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Nc6 12. O-O-O Be6 13. Nxd6+ Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Bxg4 15. Qxd8+ Nxd8 16. Rd6 exf4 17. Bxf4 Ne6 18. Be5 Bf3 19. Rg1 Bxe4 20. Bh3 Rd8 21. Rb6 Bc6 22. Rb3 Rg8 23. Re3 g6 24. Bf6 Rd6 25. c4 Kf8 26. Rf1 Bd7 27. b3 g5 28. Be5 Rc6 29. Bg2 g4 30. Rd3 Be8 31. Bd6+ Kg7 32. Rf5 Kg6 33. Ra5 f5 34. Rd2 Ng5 35. Bxc6 Bxc6 36. Bf4 Ne4 37. Rd4 h4 38. b4 g3 39. hxg3 hxg3 40. b5 g2 41. Be3 axb5 42. cxb5 Be8 43. b6 Bc6 44. Rd1 Rh8 45. Re5 Nc3 46. Rd6+ Kf7 47. Rxf5+ Ke7 48. Rg6 Rh1+ 49. Kd2 Rf1 50. Rh5 Ne4+ 51. Kc2 Nf6 52. Rh4 Kf7 53. Rg5 Nd5 54. Bd4 Nf6 55. Rh6 Be4+ 56. Kd2 Ne8 57. Rg4 Rh1 58. Rf4+ Kg8 59. Re6 Bc6 60. Rxc6 bxc6 61. Rg4+ Kf7 62. Rxg2 Nd6 63. Kc2 Ke6 64. a4 Kd5 65. Bg1 c5 66. a5 Kc6 67. Rg6 Kb7 68. Rxd6 Rxg1 69. Rd7+ Kc8 70. Rc7+ Kb8 71. a6 1-0

Vassily Ivanchuk - Vladimir Kramnik, Round 7

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. b3 Ba6 11. Bb2 Rc8 12. Nd2 d4 13. Rfe1 c5 14. e3 e5 15. Nf3 Bd6 16. Rad1 Re8 17. exd4 cxd4 18. Ng5 g6 19. f4 Bc5 20. Qd2 Qb6 21. fxe5 Bb4 22. Qf2 Bxe1 23. Rxe1 d3 24. Bd4 Qd8 25. Nxf7 Ng4 26. Qf4 Qa5 27. Rf1 Rf8 28. e6 Qh5 29. Qxg4 1-0

 

Championship homepage launched

The Asian cities team and Asian women's chess championships homepage on the Internet was launched officially earlier this week by Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik, who is also the president of the Malaysian Chess Federation.

He said the time was ripe for the MCF to take advantage of the Internet to publicise its activities to the chess world. During the two events, readers with Internet access can receive regular updates from the homepage at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6485/.

The championships are due to start next week at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort. Resorts World Berhad is the main sponsor for the two events, while the Dubai Chess and Culture Club donated US$25,000 towards the cost of running the championships.

Meanwhile, I shall be going to Genting Highlands with a happy heart next week, having received the blessings from my employer, Ban Hin Lee Bank Berhad, for me to assume duties as the chief arbiter of the Asian women's chess championship.

I know it will be a heavy responsibility and it may not be easy to keep the peace between 19 women who are jostling for the Indira Gandhi challenge trophy and eyeing the cash prizes at the same time.

The highest rated player is China's woman international master Xu Yuhua who weighs in with a rating point of 2335. Whether or not she will win the championship remains to be seen, but she will face tough competition from woman grandmaster Eva Repkova who is representing Lebanon. Repkova is rated at 2330.

The incumbent champion, Indonesian woman international master Tamin Upi Darmayana (rated at 2250), of course, cannot be overlooked in this contest of 11 rounds. Then there are also two former Asian women's champion, woman international masters Gokhale Anupama and Bagyashree Thipsay Sathe, who are both from India.

The other titled players who are capable of creating an upset in this event are woman international master Maria Lucia Sulista of Indonesia, and woman Fide masters Angela Khegai (Uzbekistan), Rena Mamedova (Uzbekistan) and Ngan Koshnitsky (Australia).

As for the remaining players, the untitled rated players are Nguyen Thi Thuan Hoa (Vietnam), Maria Sergeeva (Kazakhstan), Nguyen Thi Dung (Vietnam), Le Thi Phuong Lien (Vietnam), Irina Gorshkova (Uzbekistan), Roslina Marmono (Malaysia) and Nurul Huda Wahiduddin (Malaysia), while those unrated are Malaysia's Samantha Lee and Lim Jeannie, and Singapore's Cynthia Yap.

Amber tournament

I received a number of enquiries last week after I reported on the Melody Amber tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. All of those enquiries were curious about the blindfold games between the participants. Everyone wanted to know how they were played.

What I know about the blindfold chess is that the games were played on a computer system designed by Tasc BV of the Netherlands. Each player would sit in front of a screen displaying an empty chessboard and he would make his moves through his mouse or keyboard.

What a move is made, it would be announced on the screen of the player's opponent. The computer system, at the same time, checked on the legality of the moves and all the time used by the players would be registered automatically.

Although the players always saw an empty board, the arbiters and audience were able to follow the game on video screens which were not visible to the players.

The Melody Amber tournament was actually a combination of two events. The first was a Rapid Chess tournament which was tied by Alexei Shirov and Vassily Ivanchuk with eight points each. Anatoly Karpov was third with seven points and Vladimir Kramnik was fourth with 6 1/2 points.

Further down the table were Ljubomir Ljubojevic with six points, Vesselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand with five points, Jeroen Piket, Matthew Sadler and Loek van Wely with 4 1/2 points each, Joel Lautier with four points and Predrag Nikolic with three points.

The other event was the blindfold chess itself. Kramnik demonstrated a marked superiority over the other players by winning the blindfold event with 8 1/2 points. Anand and Shirov were tied with seven points each, while further back were Ivanchuk and Topalov with 6 1/2 points each, Lautier with 5 1/2 points, van Wely with five points, Karpov, Ljubojevic and Piket with 4 1/2 points, Nikolic with 3 1/2 points and Sadler with three.

The eventual winner of the Melody Amber tournament was decided by a combination of the results of the Rapid and blindfold events. Shirov and Kramnik thus shared the top honours with 15 points each. Third was Ivanchuk with 14 1/2 points, while Anand had 12 points.

The remaining standings: Karpov and Topalov 11 1/2 points each, Ljubojevic 10 1/2 points, Lautier and van Wely 9 1/2 points, Piket nine points, Sadler 7 1/2 points and Nikolic 6 1/2 points.

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

University tournament

Readers who are interested to take part in the International Islamic University Malaysia's team tournament on April 18 and 19 should note that there has been a change in the tournament venue to the Hotel Wenworth in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. The university's chess club is organising the event together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

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).

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organise the third of their nine-leg chess grand prix this Sunday at the Pusat Rekreasi Catur in the Taman DR Seenivasagam in Ipoh.

Six rounds are scheduled for this tournament, and the time control is 25 minutes per player for each game. Only players who are born, residing, working or studying in Perak will be eligible to take part.

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 third leg must register at the playing venue by 8.30am tomorrow. For more details, contact WK Wong (tel: 05-366-1692).

Tebrau open

Players in the south of the peninsula can take part in a team tournament on April 26. This team event, jointly organised by the Johor branch of the Police Administrative and Civilian Staff Union and the Johor Bahru Chess Club, will be played on the third floor of the Bangunan JOTIC along Jalan Air Molek, Johor Bahru.

Each team can register a maximum of four players, but only three will play in each round. Entry fees are RM50 per team, and entries will close on Apr 24. For more details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-333-8215).