11th edition

ONE of the most enduring events on the Malaysian chess calendar that is organised regularly by the state chess associations is the Penang Chess League. This Penang Chess Association (PCA) event is in its 11th edition this year and has come a long way since its inception in 1991.

At that time, the PCA was slowly emerging from a long period of the doldrums in the second half of the 1980s and the new committee that was elected into the picture had decided that the best way to raise the association's profile again was to have a sustained chess programme over a number of weeks.

Thus was born the concept of the Penang Chess League. It would be open to teams from the commercial, business and government sectors as well as from factories, institutions of learning and bona fide associations and clubs. In an effort to increase participation, all teams were allowed to include guest players who could effectively boost the teams' playing strengths.

By playing games on Sundays, it was envisioned that the participants could enjoy playing serious games with proper time controls over a period of about three months.

When the chess league first started, there were only 12 teams taking part. However, over the years, its popularity meant that the chess league had to be split into different divisions to cater for the wide spectrum of playing abilities. In its latest format, there are three divisions, with the third division comprising teams of mainly novice players.

In 1991, the PCA was lucky in that its proposals for this league was met with a sympathetic ear from the owners of the Bayview Hotel chain who allowed the association to hold the chess league at its two hotels in George Town and Batu Ferringhi in the first two years.

From the third year onwards, sponsorship for the chess league was undertaken wholly by The City Bayview Hotel which even contributed a challenge trophy for the competition.

However, a new challenge confronted the PCA in the late 1990s when a new management took over the running of the hotel. Coupled with the regional economic crisis at that time, the PCA suddenly found that the hotel was only willing to provide the venue for the chess league and the association had to dig deep into its small financial reserves to keep the event running.

There was a search for new sponsors and the PCA found a willing party in Dell Asia Pacific, now the number one manufacturer of personal computers worldwide. Dell Asia Pacific was convinced of the viability of the chess league and the commitment of the PCA to popularise a thinking game in the state, and agreed to sponsor the association for three years.

The Year 2000 edition of the competition, now aptly named Dell Penang Chess League, was held at Dell's impressive factory premises in the Bayan Baru Industrial Zone. This year, however, the venue changes to the Kolej Damansara Utama in Anson Road, Penang.

More information about this year's chess league below.

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11th Dell Penang chess league

Entries are now open for the above which kicks off on June 10. Dell Asia Pacific is the main sponsor while KDU is co-sponsoring the venue.

The championship will be played on consecutive Sundays (except July 8 and 15) and is scheduled to end on Aug 5.

Only teams representing the public and private sectors, institutions of learning and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play in the league. A guest player may be included in each team, but the other players in the team must strictly be employees, students or members of the organisation which they represent.

Players who are unable to join as guest players in any team are requested to contact the PCA immediately. The PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

The entry fee is RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each division.

For more details, contact Chan Kim Beng at (012-451 8811 / e-mail: KimBengChan@Dell.com), Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-645 5362 / e-mail: yoon@caissa.pc.my) or Ung Tay Aik ( 017-477 5418 / e-mail: taung@alumni.uwaterloo.ca).

BPM national allegro

The next three legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Perlis on June 9 and both Kedah and Pahang on June 10.

These events will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants exceeds 100, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the respective chess associations running these legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

The prizes for the open section will be RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the runner-up, RM150 for the third-placed and RM100 each for the fourth- and fifth-placed. Players coming in the sixth to 10th place will receive RM60 each. The best Bank Pertanian player will also win RM60 while the best players in the other categories will get RM50 each.

To register for the three events, contact Bahari Baharom in Kangar ( 019-568 6256), Sohaimi in Alor Star ( 04-730 7288) and Wan Abdullah in Kuantan ( 019-916 3824).

The remaining legs in the series are in Penang on July 15 (Ooi Kiem Boo; 04-226 2209), Perak on July 22 (Dr Yee Meng Keong; 05-546 4530), Negri Sembilan on Aug 12 (Charles Chan; 06-631 7971), Sabah on Aug 12 (Sylvester Asai; 088-764 305), Sarawak on Aug 19 (Lim Kian Hwa; 082-427 772) and Labuan on Oct 28 (Sebli Hassan; 087-463 471).

Sri Aman junior tournament

The Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Aman in Penang will organise a chess tournament for under-12 boys and girls at the school on Sunday. This is a six-round event and there will be seven prizes for the under-12 players and three prizes for those under 10 years old.

Entry fee is RM5 per player. To register, be at the school by 8.30am on the day of the competition or alternatively, contact Eoh Hook Kim ( 04-826 0196 / e-mail: hkeoh@tm.net.my).

Selangor AGM

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold their annual general meeting at 1.30pm this Sunday at the Sungai Wang Plaza exhibition hall in Kuala Lumpur. Among the highlights of the meeting will be the official launch of the CAS homepage, known as CASWeb, <http://www.cas.com.kg/>, and changes to their constitution on the types of membership and their fees.

Meanwhile, if you are in KL, do pay a visit to the exhibition hall on the third floor of the Sungai Wang Plaza (next to the IT Centre) this weekend to watch the 28th Royal Selangor open chess tournament which started yesterday. This event is traditionally one of the strongest tournaments held annually in the country.

Sarawak Open

The Sarawak Chess Association (SCA) will hold the Sarawak open tournament at the Dewan Suarah in Jalan Taman Budaya, Kuching, from June 3 to 5.

This event is divided into the open and under-18 sections. The open section will have 10 prizes, which includes RM600 and a trophy for the winner. There are prizes for the top eight winners of the under-18 section and the winner will receive RM180 and a trophy. There are also three special prizes for the best women players from the two sections.

Entry fees are RM10 for the open section and RM5 for women and under-18 players.

The SCA will provide free accommodation at the Telekom Training College in Semariang from June 2 to 6 for the first 30 outstation players who register for this tournament. The best players from Sarawak will be selected to represent the state in the Merdeka state and youth team chess championships in KL from Aug 31 to Sept 2.

Anyone interested in taking part can contact James Brodie in Kuching (082-616 177, 082-451 973 / fax: 082-610 757); Lim Kian Hwa in Kuching (082-203 112, 082-427 772, 011-218 192 / fax: 082-424 544); Bujang Poli in Miri (085-456 176, 085-654 487); Marzuki Hussain in Bintulu ( 086-252 300 ext 226, 086-252 902, 019-814 4369 / fax: 086-253 661); Ong Bee Hua in Sibu (084-336 909, 010-819 1129) or Tiong Chiong Ling in Sibu (084-322 327, 084-323 931).