Fischer in the news again

I WAS looking through back copies of The Star before consigning them to the kacang putih man when I came across an article in the racing pages heaping accolades on the horse which won the Lion City Cup in Singapore last Sunday. No, I haven't become a racing correspondent, neither am I a particular fan of horse racing. But this horse caught my eye--Fischer was its name. Surely it had been named after American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer.

Who has not heard of the legendary Fischer, the only man to have spooked the Soviet chess machinery when he beat Boris Spassky in a world chess championship match in Reykjavik, Iceland, back in 1972 and then failed to defend his title three years later or play another competitive chess game for the next 20 years?

Fischer reappeared on the chess scene in 1992 when he played Spassky again in another match that took place in Yugoslavia. But this time, Fischer was no longer a hero in the Americans' eyes. By playing in Yugoslavia which was in the midst of a civil war that was breaking it up into four or five pieces, Fischer brought the fury of the American government down on his head.

The US Government claimed that by playing the match, Fischer was contravening a United Nations resolution on sanctions against Yugoslavia. He was warned of "dire consequences" upon his return to the United States. As a result, after the match ended Fischer chose to remain behind in Europe rather than face the music at home.

So what has he been doing since then? I don't really know, but two weeks ago, Fischer resurfaced when he consented to be interviewed by grandmaster Eugene Torre over a Filipino radio station. During the interview, a really upset Fischer complained about the way that the "Jewish-controlled" US Government had seized his personal belongings and auctioned them off.

He claimed that a safe and cabinets in his home were broken into and memorabilia like books and photographs taken away and sold for a few hundred dollars. Throughout the 10-minute interview, he ranted and raved about a Jewish conspiracy against him.

If you are interested in this interview, you can retrieve it from the Internet. It can be downloaded from (http://www.philchess.com.ph) but you will need a software program like RealPlayer or MediaPlayer to listen to the soundclip.

Fischer the man may be down on his luck with the US Government, but Fischer the horse is currently basking in glory here in Malaysia and Singapore.

Reading about its exploits brought another chess-horse racing connection to mind. Datuk Tan Chin Nam, the honorary life president of the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), has a penchant for naming his horses after chess players and chess terms. I have heard his horses have been named Gufeld and Bishop's Opening, among others; though it turns out that Fischer doesn't belong to him.

There's an even closer connection between racing and chess, thanks again to Tan. A horse of his called Saintly (not all his horses have chess names) won the prestigious Melbourne Cup in Australia two years ago so Tan has allowed this name to be used in conjunction with an international chess tournament in Sydney.

The QVB Saintly Cup tournament, touted as Australia's strongest chess event, will end on Sunday; there are 10 grandmasters and international masters taking part. Malaysia's Mas Hafizulhelmi is one of the players while the others are GM (grandmaster) Ian Rogers, GM Darryl Johansen, IM (international master) Alex Wohl, IM Stephen Solomon, IM Guy West (all Australians), GM Joel Benjamin (United States), GM Zhang Zhong (China), IM Tomas Oral (Czech Republic) and IM Mathias Roeder (Germany). You can follow the tournament at its website at (http://www.eagles.bbs.net.au/).

Mas Hafizul seems to be holding his own against the other top-notch players. Many are becoming admirers of this local lad. Certainly, he is now Malaysia's top chess player. If you are interested in seeing how he plays, you can download some of his games from my web page at (http://come.to/my.library).

The site also has games from several international events where Malaysian players have taken part: events such as the 1996 and 1998 Chess Olympiads in Erevan (Georgia) and Elista (Russia) respectively, the 1998 World Youth Chess Festival in Spain, the recent Cairnhill open tournament in Singapore and the Yangon zonal tournament late last year.

I would like to expand this collection of Malaysians' games as much as possible, so if any reader has anything to contribute by way of a chess database of games, you can send them to me at (ssquah@schach.pc.my).

National allegro circuit

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the national allegro Grand Prix chess circuit which is being re-introduced by the Malaysian Chess Federation after a lapse of several years. This 15-leg event, sponsored by Bank Pertanian Malaysia, will kick off with the first leg at the Bank Pertanian building in Jalan Lebuh Pasar, Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday.

Following are dates for the other legs which will be played in various parts of the country:

Second leg--Kuala Terengganu, Feb 25

Third leg--Kuching, March 7

Fourth leg--Johor Baru, March 21

Fifth leg--Kota Kinabalu, April 4

Sixth leg--Penang, April 25

Seventh leg--Petaling Jaya, May 9

Eighth leg--Kuantan, June 13

Ninth leg--Alor Star, July 1

10th leg--Kangar, July 4

11th leg--Seremban, July 27

12th leg--Kota Baru, Aug 5

13th leg--Ipoh, Sep 26

14th leg--Malacca, Oct 10

The Grand Prix final will be staged in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 23 and 24.

Each leg consists of six rounds with a total cash prize of RM1,500. The bulk of this prize money will go to the main winners while RM500 is set aside for the minor winners. The winner of each leg will qualify for the Grand Prix final.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the state chess associations organising their respective legs, Bank Pertanian employees, women, under-12 and veteran players, and RM15 for all other participants.

The closing date for entries for the first leg this Sunday is tomorrow. However, the MCF is prepared to receive last-minute entries provided such players pay an additional RM10 as a late penalty.

Entry forms are available from the Bank Pertanian building foyer, and also from MCF secretary Abdul Latif Mohamad ( 03-282 6341) or Ibrahim Yaacob ( 03-636 3082).

UP NEXT

THE Perak International Chess Association (PICA) is organising its own state-level Grand Prix chess circuit beginning with its first leg next weekend at the Sekolah TAR library in Ipoh.

Category A is a six-round event with a time control of 60 minutes per player for each game; it will be played on Feb 6 and 7. It's open to all players who have a Fide (the international chess governing body), MCF, Perak or Penang rating of 1,700 or better. Entry fees are RM10 for PICA members and RM15 for non-members.

Category B is a one-day event on Feb 7, open to players without a rating or rated below 1,700. Entry fees are RM5 for PICA members and RM8 for non-members.

Registration will start at 2pm on Feb 6 for the Category A event, and 8.30am on Feb 7 for the Category B play-off. For details, call W.K. Wong at 05-366 1692.

Further north in Penang, the fourth preliminary leg of the Penang Grand Prix will be played this Sunday at the Berjaya Georgetown Hotel in Pulau Tikus.

Only members of the Penang Chess Association can take part.

Qualified readers interested in playing in this event should contact Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-644 5687 in the evening) or Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-657 4596, office hours).

For details of this tournament, visit (http://come.to/the.pca.homepage).

On Monday (Feb 1), the FCLCHESS club will hold its third local rating tournament at the Holiday Villa hotel in Subang Jaya, Selangor, beginning 9am. The event will have four categories: the under-15, under-12, under-9 and beginners.

The entry fee is RM20 if you register before Sunday, and RM25 if you register on the day of the competition, though these entries will only be accepted if there are vacant places. The total prize fund is RM900 but the organisers may reduce the prizes if there are fewer than 30 players in each of the categories.

For more information, contact Foong Chee Leng ( 013-332 3380).

Also in the same area, the SMK Subang Jaya will hold its open tournament in its school hall on Feb 11 and 12.

On the first day, the boys' under-17 and girls' under-17 individual events will be held; this will be followed by the boys' and girls' team events on the next day.

Entry fees are RM10 per player for the individual events and RM45 per team for the team events. The prizes for the boys' individual and team events will be RM150 for the winner, RM100 for second position and RM50 for third. For the girls' individual and team events, the three winners will receive RM120, RM80 and RM40 respectively.

For details, contact Chan Wei Wei ( 03-747 1822), Lee Su Ann ( 03-733 7526) or Edward Teoh ( 03-733 0875) in the evenings.

National allegro grand prix returns

AFTER a lapse of several years, the national allegro Grand Prix circuit is back. This 15-leg event, initiated by the Malaysian Chess Federation and sponsored by Bank Pertanian Malaysia, will be launched on Jan 31.

On this date, the MCF will hold the first leg of the Grand Prix at the Bank Pertanian building in Jalan Lebuh Pasar, Kuala Lumpur. The remaining legs will be held in various parts of the country after the Chinese New Year celebrations and will be organised by the respective state chess associations.

In states without a recognised chess body, the MCF will run the legs. The MCF will release the dates for the various legs later.

Each leg consists of six rounds and offer a total cash prize of RM1,500. The bulk of the prize will go to the main winners while RM500 is set aside for other winners such as the best women, under-16 or under-12 players.

The winner of each leg will qualify for the final of the Grand Prix which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in October.

Entry fees are RM15 for adults and RM6 for junior players in each of the legs run directly by the MCF. State chess associations that organise their legs can charge members a lower fee of RM10 and RM5 respectively.

For the initial event at the end of the month, the closing date for entries is Jan 30. However, the MCF will receive last-minute entries provided players pay the late penalty which is an additional RM10.

Entry forms are available in the foyer of Bank Pertanian and also from MCF secretary Abdul Latif Mohamad ( 03-282 6341).

Meanwhile, Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia, which had postponed holding the PCMM Malay Open during the Christmas period, will now hold it during the two-day Chinese New Year break.

This event is also sponsored by Bank Pertanian and will likely be held in the Bank Pertanian building. There will only be one main category, but special prizes will go to the best women, under-16 and under-12 players.

Hectic month for Penang

THERE has been a spurt of chess activities in Penang during the past three weekends, and I hear from the Penang Chess Association that one more tournament is scheduled in the state at the end of the month.

The first of the weekend events in Penang was held on Dec 27 at the clubhouse of the Bayan Baru Residents' Association in Bandar Bayan Baru, Penang. Lim Chuin Hoong won this tournament, the third leg of the Penang Grand Prix, scoring 5 1/2 points to emerge top among the 39 players.

Teng Wei Peng and Jonathan Chuah tied for the second place, each scoring five points. Ng Tze Han, Eoh Thean Keat, Ooi Chuen Chieh and Colin Chong, had 4 1/2 points each while Khor Shihong, Lim Jean Nie and Chuah Heng Meng scored four points each.

A week later, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge and Chess Club organised its two-weekend chess festival.

On the first weekend, Jan 2-3, USM ran its individual event. With 112 players taking part, rivalry among the top-seeded players was very intense but they were all overshadowed by UKM student Fikrul Saifuddin who managed to capture the top prize.

Fikrul, together with Chuin Hoong, Jonathan, Khor and Teng, had finished the tournament with six points, but he had just a slightly better tie-break which was sufficient for him to claim the first prize of RM450.

Ng and Heng Meng, both with 5 1/2 points, were the other two prize winners. Lim Yew San and Teng Wei Khoon, who also had 5 1/2 points each, and Lim Ming Teng, with five points, missed out on the main prizes but bagged the consolation prizes as the best under-15 players.

Three prizes were given to the best players from a tertiary institution and these went to Samsul Ariffin, Tang Chi Yan and Lim Cheng Teik. Jean Nie, Oh Hui Ling and Bong Mee Tin won the under-15 girls' prizes while the three under-12 prizes went to Nicholas Chan, Tan Yik Ping and Lee Heng Wei.

A week later, USM held its team tournament. The response was also good with 30 teams playing in the event. The winner was Chung Ling High School "A" which just managed to pip Penang Free School "A" by a mere half point. The Chung Ling boys scored 20 points to the Penang Free School's 19 1/2 points.

As expected, these two teams were way ahead of the other 28 teams. Their closest rivals were the Chung Ling Old Boys Association (CLOBA) and another team which called itself www.losers.com. Both CLOBA and www.losers.com tied with 15 points each.

CLOBA was unfortunate to meet the CLHS "A" in the final round and the former showed their older counterparts no favour at all. Losers.com had a comparatively easier time in disposing of Penang Free School "C" in the final round.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Pessca, USM "A", USM99, Penang Chess Association and St Xavier's Institution "A" finished with 14 1/2 points each but they were all out of the running for a main prize. UTM, however, won the best tertiary institution prize while the MSSPP Girls took the best ladies' prize.

The next tournament in Penang, the fourth and last preliminary leg of the Penang Grand Prix, will be played on Jan 31 at the Berjaya Georgetown Hotel, which is next to the Midland One-Stop Centre in Pulau Tikus. Only Penang Chess Association (PCA) members can take part in this event.

Readers interested in playing in this event should contact Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-644 5687 in the evening) or Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-657 4596, office hours).

Prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM120 for the runner-up and RM80 for the third-placed. There are five other smaller cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides cash prizes, top players from each leg will be awarded GP points. The selection of 10 finalists will depend on the total GP points that the players accumulated from their best three legs.

For details of this circuit, visit the PCA homepage at (http://surf.to/pgchess).

Want to play in Iran?

The Iranian authorities, I was told, are organising an international open tournament in Teheran from Feb 6 to 11. This nine-round event, known as the second Fajar open, offers players a chance to grab US$3,000 (RM11,400) in prizes.

Entry fees are structured according to Fide ratings. Grandmasters, international masters and those with ratings above 2400 get to play free of charge, players whose ratings are between 2300 and 2395 will be charged US$20 (RM76), players rated between 2200 and 2295, US$30 (RM114), and those rated between 2000 and 2195, US$40 (RM152). Unrated players are required to pay US$50 (RM190) as entry fee.

Anyone interested in this tournament should contact MCF secretary Abdul Latif Mohamad ( 03-282 6341) before the end of this month as the closing date for entries is Feb 1. But remember, all expenses will be borne by the players themselves. The MCF's role is just to register the players with the Iranian organisers.

UP NEXT

Chess Association of Selangor's first event for the year is the Nanang International juniors (under-12) open tournament which is scheduled for Jan 24. The event will be played at the Nanang International premises at Jalan Datuk Sulaiman in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

This is a six-round event which offers 10 cash prizes for the winners. The champion will receive RM120 and the runner-up, RM70. The top three winners will also receive a volume of Ruicao Ginseng.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the CAS and RM12 for non-members. Due to space constraint at the tournament venue, CAS will only accept entries on a first-come-first-served basis. For details on the tournament and registration of players, call CAS secretary Jackie Wong at 03-703 8237.

Tough matches in Myanmar

ONE of the cruellest things that can happen to a chess player is for his winning streak to turn into a losing streak. Suddenly, instead of being able to hold his own against other players, the stricken chess player can find himself losing game after game.

It is a great morale-sapping moment and when this happens in an individual tournament especially, when there is no one who can offer a steadying hand to the player, it can seem as if his whole world has collapsed on him.

I don't know what exactly Lim Yee Weng thought when he found himself in such a situation last month. He was in Yangon, Myanmar, together with Mas Hafizulhelmi and Wong Zi Jing, to play in the Zone 3.2a zonal tournament and his performance here frankly ranked as the worst in his playing career.

He struggled through five losses in a row before landing a win in the sixth round against a Myanmar player. Another loss followed in the seventh round before Lim wrapped up the tournament with two draws against a Filipino and a Singaporean. However, the damage had been irreparable and Lim found himself propping up the field of 30 players with only two points to his credit.

Admittedly, this was a very strong tournament. There were no holds barred from the players. After all, with Zone 3.2a allotted only two qualifying places to the next stage of the current world championship series in Las Vegas, scheduled for the middle of this year, most of the participants were in no mood to compromise.

Take, for example, Indonesia's Utut Adianto. As the highest-rated player, he was expected to breeze through the tournament. Yet he stumbled with two losses, including one that came in the very critical eighth round against the Philippines' Rogelio Antonio. Utut had to haul himself back into reckoning with a last-round win against Myanmar's Zaw Oo.

Even then, Utut had to wait for three other games to finish before he could know whether he qualified or not. Antonio joined him with a win over Vietnam's top player, Dao Thien Hai. Later, Mongolia's Dashzeveg Sharavdorj was to stake a claim with a win over Barlo Nadera of the Philippines.

The player who had the most to lose was China's Liu Dede. Going into the final round, he led the field by a half-point. But he could make no headway against Bong Villamayor, another Filipino player, and the game was drawn.

If Liu had won this crucial game, he would have qualified for Las Vegas. Instead, he found himself in a four-way tie at the top, where regulations had demanded that a double-round play-off in 25-minute games be held to decide the two qualifiers.

Liu fell apart in the play-off, losing four games and drawing two. Antonio's nerves proved the steadiest of the quartet, coming through with two wins and four draws. In the meantime, Utut and Sharavdorj both ended tied again, thereby forcing the two players into yet a second play-off consisting of a four-game match. In five-minute games, however, Sharavdorj proved to be no match for Utut, thereby conceding the second qualifying spot to the Indonesian grandmaster.

Both Hafizulhelmi and Wong Zi Jing had a good run in the zonal tournament, finishing with five points each. Hafizulhelmi drew his first game, then lost his second game to Sharavdorj. He won his third game, drew the fourth and won again in the fifth round. He then completed the tournament by drawing his remaining four games, including a remarkable effort against Antonio.

Wong had two early draws, then settled into a rhythm by losing, winning, losing and winning his next four games. From his last three games, Wong scored two draws and a win. One of his draws was with grandmaster Edhi Handoko of Indonesia.

Final standings from the zonal tournament: Utut, Sharavdorj, Antonio and Liu, 6 1/2 points each; Villamayor, 6 points; Dao and Akira Watanabe, 5 1/2 points each; Edhi, Nadera, Zaw Oo, Hafizulhelmi, Wong and Myo Naing, 5 points each; Petronio Rcao, Zaw Win Lay, Htun Htun Than, Nyee Nyee Zaw, Myint Han and Kyaw Kyaw Soe, 4 1/2 points each; Dang Tat Thang, 4 points; Ricardo de Guzman, Aung Aung, Nay Oo Kyaw Tun, Mark Chan and Tomohiko Matsuo, 3 1/2 points; Myo Thant Khine, Naing Lin Aung and Nelson Mariano, 3 points; Navin Sawalani, 2 1/2 points; and Lim, 2 points.

Terengganu open

The Terengganu Chess Association held its 11th Terengganu open chess tournament last month at the ITM campus in Dungun. There were 42 players who took part in the two-day event.

Mohd Kamal Abdullah was declared the winner of the tournament after he finished with the best tie-breaking score among three players who had scored 5 1/2 points from seven games. In second place was Nor Azmi Md Nor, while third was Md Nizam Hamzah.

There were six players with five points, and the fourth prize went to Abdul Rahim Ramli. Fifth was Md Johan Jamil, sixth was Ghalam Sani, seventh Ali Akhbar, eighth Zahanudin Zainal and ninth Ruzenan Abu Bakar. The 10th prize was given to Wan Abdul Fatah Ali who scored 4 1/2 points.

Cairnhill tournament

Just before Christmas in Singapore last month, the Cairnhill Community Centre held a fairly successful open tournament which attracted several top players from the region. The biggest star of the tournament was the Australian grandmaster, Ian Rogers, who confirmed his standing as the tournament's favourite by winning the top prize of S$1,600 (about RM3,600).

There were five players who scored 5 1/2 points and leading this pack was the Vietnamese international master, Tu Hoang Thong. China's Wu Shaobin, Fikrul Saifuddin, Ben Flores Jr and Wong Meng Leong were the other players with 5 1/2 points.

Two players who took part in the Yangon zonal tournament managed to participate in the Singapore event. Mark Chan returned home in time to play, and he ended up with five points together with Kenneth Tan and Koh Kum Hong.

China's Liu followed up on his disappointment in Myanmar by scoring only 4 1/2 points in the Cairnhill event. He shared the 10th to 14th places with Malaysia's Lim Chuin Hoong, Chia Chee Seng, Goh Weiming and Chue Kah Loong.

The players with four points were Vietnamese Tu Hoang Thai, Uzbekistan's Angela Khegai, Malaysia's Wong Chee Chung, Aurel Molnar, Malcolm Tan, Chris Morrison, Ignatius Leong, Mark Tan, Junior Tay, Foo Hsiang Ming and Bagas Prama Ananta. Singapore's former Fide secretary-general Dr Lim Kok Ann finished with three points. Altogether there were 62 players.