Forceful Filipinos

YOU would be forgiven if you had thought that the Filipino chess players were here for a holiday. After all, grandmasters Eugene Torre and Rogelio Antonio, international master Rico Mascarinas and untitled player Ronaldo Nolte were on their way home to Manila after playing in the Vung Tau east Asian zonal tournament in Vietnam when they decided to break their journey in Kuala Lumpur.

When news first broke that these Filipino chess masters were interested in playing in the Royal Selangor Open at the Sungai Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, many were rather excited about it. Would it not bring a certain glamour to one of Malaysia's biggest local events and pose a challenge to our players?

Unfortunately, it was not until play had begun that people started to realise that the Filipinos' presence was not exactly good for the tournament in general. In the first place, the chasm between these four seasoned international players and our local competitors proved far too wide.

Of the 24 games that the Filipinos played against our local players, they conceded only two draws. Nolte drew a game with Christy Chia while Mascarinas dropped half a point to Mak Weng Yee.

If the results looked rather disappointing, the second realisation was that the Filipinos' game plan was to draw all the games played among themselves. Every game among the foursome was drawn while they were ruthless against the local players. If not for the two small hiccups against Chia and Mak, I would dare say that Torre and company would have become joint-winners of this year's Royal Selangor Open.

In hindsight, I suppose the Filipino players did take the challenge to our local players. In the 24 games, they were effectively challenging the locals to show them what they were capable of. Would our established players be able to pierce the foreigners' defences? Could our up-and-coming junior players outwit these old foxes?

Regrettably, the answer is no. Mohd Saprin Sabri failed to make any headway in the two chances that he got against Nolte and Torre, Ismail Ahmad fired blanks against Antonio and Torre, and Mok Tze Meng came up against a brick wall in Torre and Nolte. Many others had a chance to play at least a game against these four experienced Filipino players but none made an impression.

The top scorers in the Royal Selangor Open were Torre and Antonio with 7.5 points, Nolte and Mascarinas with seven, and Mak Weng Yee and Mohd Saprin with 6.5. Bunched together on six points were Christy Chia, Ismail Ahmad, Joseph Toh, Mok Tze Meng, Nicholas Chin and Gerald Soh. A further half-a-point behind were Agus Salim, Lim Yee Weng, Abdullah Che Hassan, Lim Ven Gee and Muhamad Aizuddin.

Sixty players took part in this tournament organised by the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) and sponsored by Royal Selangor.

Together with this event, CAS also held the Selangor ladies' open at the same venue. However, there were only 12 participants.

Winning this event was Lee Su Ann who scored 6.5 points from seven games. Lim Han Ying was unfortunate to have lost her final game otherwise she would have tied with Lee at the top. Because of the loss, Lim's final score was 5.5 points.

Third was Nurshazwani Zulkafli with five points, while Norhidayah Azman and Wan Khye Theng both got four points.

10th Penang Dell league

WITH only three rounds completed in this year's Penang Dell chess league, the race for the premier division title looks wide open. Although Penang Free School is favoured to win the title again, it's facing stiff challenges from Chung Ling High School (CLHS), Old Frees Association (OFA) and Chung Ling Old Boys Association (CLOB).

Already, CLOB has taken a slim one-point lead over its closest rival OFA, with both CLHS A and Penang Free School A trailing not far behind. Dell Asia Pacific A which gained promotion to the premier division this year is showing good promise and is firmly entrenched in the middle of the tournament standings.

Among the Division One teams, the challenge for the title looks likely to be between the CLHS C and Penang Development Corporation (PDC) A. However, teams like Hitachi Semiconductor and Universiti Sains Malaysia are quite capable of overhauling the two leaders.

In Division Two, PDC B is presently ahead in the standings, but MSSPP Juniors and Dell Asia Pacific B are very close behind. PFS D, MSSPP Girls and the Penang Chess Association Ladies are performing well too and may provide the surprises in this division.

The Penang Dell chess league is the biggest local chess event in the northern region. The tournament, now in its 10th year, is organised by the Penang Chess Association and sponsored by Dell Asia Pacific. Nine rounds have been scheduled for this year's event and the games are played on most Sundays until Aug 6 at the Dell Asia Pacific premises in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone.

UP NEXT

Kellie's Castle Open (July 2): The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a one-day open tournament at Kellie's Castle in Batu Gajah, Perak. For details, call W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692) or Steven Ng ( 05-366 8198).

Royal Selangor under-16 GP (July 8-9): The Chess Association of Selangor will hold the fourth leg of its fifth Royal Selangor under-16 grand prix circuit at the Sunway College. For details, call Mrs Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 012-298 4922, e-mail: tsepin@maxis.net.my).

Systematic College Open (July 9): The Systematic College in Johor Baru, with assistance from the Johor Baru District Chess Association, will stage an open tournament at the college premises in Wisma Cheong Yee Kee, Jalan Meldrum. For details, call Narayanan Krishnan ( 07-333 8215, e-mail: naraa@tm.net.my).

A new winner

THERE weren't many surprises at the national closed championship played at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur recently. None of last year's trio of joint winners managed to repeat their feats, meaning there is a new winner of the National Master title in the men's section.

Ng Tze Han played the steadiest chess during the five days of the championship and finished with eight points. A good start in the first half of the nine-round event, comprising four wins and a draw with Lim Chuin Hoong, enabled him to keep within striking distance of Fide master Wong Zi Jing who led the field for most of the way.

Ng drew with Wong in the sixth round and then put in a spurt of victories in his last three games to clinch the title. Ng was helped along the way when Wong fell to Lim in a very crucial game in the penultimate round and thereby allowed Ng to overtake him as tournament leader.

At this stage, Wong's title aspirations were as good as gone. Ng, realising that the National Master title was almost his, mopped up the event with a win over one of last year's joint winners, Teng Wei Khoon. It was little consolation for Wong who tied for the second place with 7.5 points.

Wong had by far the best start in the competition when he won his first five games. He installed himself as a firm favourite after beating last year's joint winner Jonathan Chuah in the fifth round. Wong drew with Ng in the sixth round and then beat Cheah Eu Gene in his next game. Then came the loss to Lim which dashed all his hopes.

Lim, the joint runners-up, was one of two players who went undefeated in this event. However, Lim drew one game too many. Apart from his draw with Ng, Lim also dropped valuable half points against Chuah and Chan. But possibly, his win against Wong counted as one of the biggest highlights of the championship.

One player whom I think we shall be hearing of more often in the future is 13-year-old Nicholas Chan. In the past year, he had been quietly improving in junior events in the Klang Valley but at the national closed this year, Chan surprised everyone with a creditable performance.

Although his results were still scrappy--two losses and a draw interspersed with five wins--Chan did well to score 6.5 points and finish among the top four. Among his wins was one against last year's joint winner, Jonathan Chuah.

The three players who scored six points in this event were Jonathan Chuah, Chan Meng Yang and Thaw Chee Yin. Further down the field were Teng Wei Khoon, Khor Shihong, Rizal Ahmad Kamal, Marcus Chan, Ling Kay Soon, Deon Moh and Ahmad Hafiz Shafruddin with 5.5 points each.

There were 47 players from the various state chess associations taking part in the championship. The top four players--Ng Tze Han, Wong Zi Jing, Lim Chuin Hoong and Nicholas Chan--will be eligible to participate in the Malaysian Master which the Malaysian Chess Federation will organise in Kuala Lumpur starting Sept 2.

This event will pool together six other players already listed on the Fide rating list. According to the MCF, this event will determine the national champion for the year. It will also be used to select three other players who will join Ng in the national team that will be playing in the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

Together with the men's section of the national closed championship, the women's section was held concurrently at the PWTC but it was over only seven rounds.

Defending champion Siti Zulaika Foudzi showed that her success in last year's championship was not a fluke as she easily staved off challenges from other established players like Samantha Lee, Lim Jean Nie, Eliza Hanum Ibrahim, Eliza Hanim Ibrahim, Marina Soh and Nurul Huda Wahiduddin.

Technically, Zulaika and Lee finished as joint winners with 5.5 points each, but the former was declared the national women's champion based on a playoff. For the women's team that will be attending the Chess Olympiad this year, it is expected that Mumtaz and Lim will be selected by the MCF to join Zulaika and Lee.

10th Penang Dell League

The northern region's biggest local chess event, the annual Penang Dell Chess League, began last Sunday at the Dell Asia Pacific premises in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone.

The tournament, now in its 10th year, is organised by the Penang Chess Association and sponsored by Dell Asia Pacific. The rounds are played on most Sundays and the event is scheduled to end on Aug 6.

UP NEXT

Royal Selangor under-16 GP (June 18, July 8-9): The Chess Association of Selangor will continue with the second, third and fourth legs at the Sunway College on these dates respectively.

Each leg will be a six-round contest with a 30-minute time control. For details, call Mrs Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 012-298 4922 / e-mail: tsepin@maxis.net.my).

Kuala Terengganu Open (June 23-24): The Terengganu Youth and Sports Department will organise an open competition in conjunction with the state-level Sports Month celebrations. The venue of this event will be the Kompleks Belia Dan Sukan in Jalan Pasir Panjang, Kuala Terengganu.

The tournament is divided into the open, under-12 and novice sections, and entry fees are RM10 for the open section, RM5 for the novice section and RM3 for the under-12 section.

Total prize money is RM1,200 which will be distributed to the top winners of the three sections. The first round on June 23 will start at 9.30am, and the time control adopted will be 30 minutes per game.

For details, call Muhammad Arshad ( 018-895 8041 / e-mail: terengganuchess@hotmail.com).

BPM national allegro (June 25): The next leg of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro circuit will be played at Seremban Parade.

The prizes for the open section are: RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the second-placed, RM150 for third, RM100 for fourth and fifth, and RM60 for sixth to 10th. The best Bank Pertanian player will also win RM60, while the best players in the other categories will get RM50.

For details, call Charles Chan ( 012-683 5587 / e-mail: izhome@tm.net.my).

JB Carnival Open (June 25): The Johor Baru municipal council will organise an open tournament at the Plaza Kotaraya in Jalan Ibrahim with assistance from the Johor Baru District Chess Association.

The event is divided into the open, under-18 and under-12 sections, and entry fees are RM13 for the open section, RM7 for the under-18 section and RM5 for the under-12 section.

The winner of the open section will receive RM200, a one-night stay in Pulau Tioman, a hamper and a certificate. The runners-up will get RM100, a hamper and a certificate, while the third-placed winner will receive RM70, a hamper and a certificate. The other winners within the top 10 will get certificates and cash prizes ranging from RM50 for fourth to RM15 for the eighth placed.

The top three prizes for the two junior sections will be cash, hampers and certificates, and the remaining winners in both sections will get cash and certificates.

Participants are required to register with the organisers before June 22. For details, call Narayanan Krishnan ( 07-333 8215 / e-mail: naraa@tm.net.my).

Kellie's Castle Open (July 2): The Perak International Chess Association will organise an open tournament to be held at Kellie's Castle in Batu Gajah.

Kellie's Castle, the unfinished monument to William Kellie Smith who was a pioneer rubber planter in Perak at the turn of last century (the Kinta Kellas Rubber Estate was planted by him), had lain overgrown with weeds for the past 70 years until its recent restoration by Rekreasi Kellie's Castle Sdn Bhd. Now, Rekreasi Kellie's Castle has teamed up with the PICA to organise presumably the first of many chess events in Batu Gajah.

The July 2 competition will be a one-day event, played over six rounds and with a 25-minute time control per player for each game. Registration of players will be at 8am and the first round is scheduled for 9.10am.

The top three prizes will be trophies and RM500, RM300 and RM200. There are seven other cash prizes ranging from RM120 to RM50; the best women's, under-12 and veteran (above 50 years old) players will receive RM50 too.

For details, call W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692) or Steven Ng ( 05-366 8198).

Close fight

DESPITE the absence of prize monies, the East Asian (Zone 3.2a) men's zonal tournament which ended earlier this week in the Vietnamese town of Vung Tau still attracted five grandmasters and six international masters among the field of 32 players.

At stake were at least two precious tickets to this year's world chess championship. Playing in the world championship would mean the opportunity for qualifiers to earn more money than most regional events could offer. Thus, the importance of the zonal tournament becomes more significant.

The World Chess Federation (Fide) divides the world into many zones and sub-zones. Normally, each zone or sub-zone will consist of several countries in the geographical vicinity but at times it can also be made up of only one country especially if the country is big enough to be a chess power on its own.

For example, in Asia there are six zones or sub-zones. Zone 3.1a comprises the Middle Eastern countries, Zone 3.1b the countries of the Indian sub-continent, Zone 3.2b the southern Pacific countries, Zone 3.3 is the regional chess powerhouse China, while Zone 3.4 is made up of the former Soviet Union countries in central Asia.

Zone 3.2a consists of countries in the east Asia corridor which are Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Each of these Asian zones and sub-zones, as well as the others around the world, have either held or are presently holding their zonal tournaments to determine their respective qualifiers to Fide's world championship.

According to Fide, India and Iran have put in a joint bid of US$2.7mil (RM10.26mil) to host both the world championship and the women's world championship. The total cost of holding these events is expected to be US$3.6mil (RM13.68mil) and the shortfall of US$900,000 (RM3.42mil) will be met from elsewhere.

New Delhi will host the preliminaries to the semi-final of the world championship and the whole of the women's world meet, while the final match for the world championship will be held in Tehran. The preliminary rounds will start on Nov 25.

Representing the east Asian zone will be Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam and Buenaventura Villamayor of the Philippines who finished joint first in the Vung Tau tournament with seven points from nine rounds.

Dao, Vietnam's only grandmaster, was the sole leader in the tournament after the third round. He was only the fourth seed in this event but it was obvious that the home crowd was rooting for him all the way. Dao beat two other Vietnamese players in his first two games and in the third round, he beat the Mongolian grandmaster Dashzeveg Sharavdorj.

Interestingly, Dao's remaining five games in the tournament were all against Filipino players. In successive rounds, he drew with international master Rico Mascarinas, co-winner Villamayor and Petronio Roca, then he beat unheralded Enrique Pacienta before ending the event drawing with third-seeded grandmaster Rogelio Antonio.

International master Villamayor was even ranked lower in the pecking order. He was designated as the eighth seed and his progress through the tournament began with two draws with Thailand's Banjuab Jiravorasuk and Vietnam's Vinh Bui.

Then came a spate of good results: winning against Indonesians Sebastian Simanjuntak and Cerdas Barus, and Myanmar's Wynn Zaw Htun, then drawing with Dao and Mascarinas, before finishing with triumphs against an off-form top-seeded Indonesian grandmaster Utut Adianto and Vietnamese international master Thanh Trang Hoang.

Six players shared the third to eighth placings with six points: Mascarinas, Roca, Adianto, Antonio, Pacienta and Filipino player Richard Bitoon. To get an idea of how strong this event was, it is sufficient to add that the illustrious second-seeded Filipino grandmaster Eugene Torre could only score five point and finished jointly ninth to 12th with the likes of Barus, Tu Hoang Thai and Simanjuntak.

Lower down the table of final standings, sixth seed Wynn Zaw Htun and fifth seed Myo Naing (the two Myanmar players who had played in Penang last February) had only four points.

Malaysia's two representatives failed to make any headway in this strong event. Mok Tze Meng finished with 3.5 points while Ismail Ahmad scored only 2.5 points.

UP NEXT

Chess Association of Selangor AGM (tomorrow): Sungei Wang Plaza exhibition hall, Kuala Lumpur (2pm). A new council for the next two years will be elected.

Selangor girls under-20 (tomorrow and Sunday): Organised by CAS, this event will be held at Sungai Wang Plaza. Registration of players will open tomorrow at 9am.

Fifth Royal Selangor under-16 grand prix (June 11, 18, July 8, 9): Also organised by CAS, this event will be held at the Sunway College. For the first leg, players can register at the playing venue at 9am.

Direct inquiries pertaining to the three aforemonetioned events to Mrs Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 012-298 4922, e-mail: tsepin@maxis.net.my).

27th Royal Selangor open: Ending this Sunday at Sungai Wang Plaza.

10th Penang Dell league (June 11): Organised by the Penang Chess Association and sponsored by Dell Asia Pacific, the tournament will be played on Sundays and is scheduled to end on Aug 6. Only teams representing the public and private sectors, institutions of learning, registered associations, societies and clubs are eligible to play. A guest player may be included in each team, but the rest must be employees, students or members of the organisation which they represent. Players without a team to represent can contact the PCA; if there are enough players, the PCA may form a team. Closing date for entries is tomorrow. For details, call Chan Kim Beng ( 012-451 8811, e-mail: Kim_Beng_Chan@Dell.com), Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-644 5687 evenings, e-mail: yoon@pdc.gov.my) or Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-826 3764 evenings, e-mail: ooilsv@pd.jaring.my).

Bank Pertanian Malaysia allegro circuit: June 11 in Johor Baru, call Stephen Cheong ( 07-333 9636) to register. June 24 in Seremban, call Charles Chan ( 06-631 7971). The dates and venues for the Kedah and Perlis legs will be announced later.

Kuala Terengganu (June 23 and 24): The Terengganu Youth and Sports Department will organise an open chess competition in conjunction with the state's Sports Month celebrations. For details, contact Muhammad Arshad (018-895 8041, e-mail: terengganuchess@hotmail.com).