An impressive showing

THE 18-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov emerged relatively unscathed from his first test as the world chess champion at the annual Linares grandmaster tournament in Spain earlier this month. 

This tournament, which was watched with an uncharacteristically higher interest by the chess world, was won expectedly by Gary Kasparov but Ponomariov's chess ability made the strongest statement by far.

In a way, Ponomariov's second placing was a clear indication to the world chess elite that his triumph in Moscow in January was not a fluke. There, he had beaten Vassily Ivanchuk quite comprehensively to claim the chess crown but in Linares, he more than held his own against people like Michael Adams, Alexei Shirov, Ivanchuk and another former world champion, his predecessor, Viswanathan Anand. 

Ponomariov began the tournament by again getting the better of Ivanchuk. His satisfaction was, however, shortlived as in the second round, Adams rudely brought him back to earth with a carefully grounded out win. A series of draws then followed, during which time Ponomariov was careful to bide his time.

In the ninth round, Ponomariov struck back at Adams and won a crafty game. He scored another win against Vallejo Pons, the tournament's tail-ender, in the 13th round but was himself at the receiving end against Kasparov in the 14th round. Nevertheless, Ponomariov's 6.5 points were enough to let him finish second in Linares, and a vindication for him.

When Ponomariov has firstly won the world chess crown in Moscow, his success was met with an incredulous "Who's Ponomariov?" among many chess players.

Kasparov, in particular, had been vicious in his comments about the new world champion, remarking on his web site that if he were to meet Ponomariov, he would not know who Ponomariov was. It was a stinging remark, belittling his effort in Moscow and meant to mean that Ponomariov was certainly not in his league and could not be taken seriously.

But Ponomariov had his sense of humour. During the opening ceremony of the Linares tournament, he made it a point to sit beside Kasparov. Well, Kasparov simply ignored him during the whole proceedings and it was clear that the atmosphere between the two of them was thick enough to cut with a knife.

But the course of the tournament must have changed Kasparov's opinion of the younger man, for at the closing ceremony, Kasparov had loosened enough to be seen laughing and talking to Ponomariov. Maybe, he felt magnaminous enough after having won the tournament. Who knows? But from this alone, it is clear that Kasparov has already taken his measure of Ponomariov.

Here's a game from Linares' ninth round. Adams played the Marshall Attack as Black, hoping to score a quick win against Ponomariov, but he failed to reckon with Ponomariov's own aggressive play in the centre of the board. An interesting game.

Ponomariov - Adams: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15. Re4 g5 16. Qe2 Nf6 17. Nd2 Bf5 18. f3 c5 19. Qf2 c4 20. Bc2 h6 21. b3 cxb3 22. axb3 Rfc8 23. Bb2 Bb4 24. Re5 Bxc2 25. cxb4 Bg6 26. Rc5 Re8 27. Nf1 Rad8 28. d5 Nd7 29. Ne3 h5 30. f4 h4 31. f5 hxg3 32. hxg3 Bh5 33. d6 Re4 34. Rac1 Nxc5 35. bxc5 Kh7 36. Bf6 Rg8 37. d7 Rh4 38. Qg2 Bf3 39. Qxh3 Rxh3 40. Kf2 g4 41. Nf1 Rh5 42. d8=Q Rxd8 43. Bxd8 Rxf5 44. Ne3 Rh5 45. Bh4 1-0

UP NEXT

Kuittho Chess Challenge

The two-day Kuittho Chess Challenge starts tomorrow at the College University Technology Tun Hussein Onn campus in Batu Pahat. This is a tournament for undergraduates of local universities and colleges, school children and other Malaysians.

Entry fees are RM40 per person except for primary schoolchildren who are charged RM20 each. For enquiries, call Ho Kok Hoe (tel: 017-758-1200), Norrsallawati Md Said (tel: 012-764-4372) or Muhammad Suhaib Mohd Azmi (tel: 012-451-9476).

PFS Open

The Penang Free School Open, incorporating the first leg of this year's Penang Grand Prix, will be held this Sunday in the school hall. The tournament will be played over eight rounds with a time control of 20 minutes per player for the first and second rounds, and 25 minutes for the remaining rounds. 

Entry fee is RM10 per player. To register, contact Chin Chee Boon (04-8275910) or Pak Cheng Yeong (04-3906855). Closing date is Mar 30.

TCN Rapidchess

The Chess Network will hold a Rapidchess tournament for the under-12 and under-16 age groups at the Wilayah Complex in Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Registration will begin at 9am.

There are 10 prizes each for the two categories, and the total prize fund is RM500. There are also membership prizes to join the World Chess Network where players can compete online with other chess players around the world, and hampers for the best girl players. For more details, contact Abdul Hamid Majid (019-3158098).

Royal Selangor Juniors

The Chess Association of Selangor will organise the 16th Royal Selangor junior tournament for the under-10 and under-16 categories on Saturday and Sunday at the Sunway College in Bandar Sunway. On Apr 6 and 7, it will be the under-12 and under-18 events.

There are 40 prizes worth more than RM4,800 and the champion of each category will receive RM200 and a pewter trophy each. Time control for the seven-round tournament is 60 minutes per player. 

Those wishing to play in the under-12 and under-18 events have until Apr 5 to register by email with CAS secretary Lim Tse Pin <tsepin@maxis.net.my>. Please state your name, identity card number and category of event in your email. Entries are limited to 60 players per category on a first-come basis. Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM 20 fornon-members. 

BPM Allegro

The Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit continues with:

-- the Kelantan leg in Kota Bharu on Mar 30. To register, contact Cikgu Rahman (tel: 09-7878079).

-- the Johor leg at the Menara Landmark in Johor Bahru on Apr 7. To register, contact Aaron Chua (012-7599319) or John Ang (012-7515314) or email aaronchua8@hotmail.com before Apr 5. Email entries must state the players' names. All participants must report at the playing venue by 8am on the day of the tournament. 

The other legs of the chess circuit will be held in Malacca on Apr 14, Kuantan on May 5, Alor Setar on Jun 29, Kangar on Jun 30, George Town on Jul 14, Ipoh on Jul 21, Seremban and Kota Kinabalu on Aug 11, Kuching on Aug 18, and Labuan on Sep 29. 

Kellie's Castle Open

The Perak International Chess Association will organise the third Kellie's Castle open tournament in Batu Gajah on Apr 21. This is a seven-round event with a total prize fund of RM3,840. The winner will receive RM800 and a trophy. There are altogether 10 main prizes and six other prizes for the best veterans, ladies and PICA members. Entry fees are RM20 for PICA members, ladies and under-12 players, and RM25 for all others.

On Apr 20, PICA will organise the Kellie's Castle youth tournament at the same venue. The prize fund is RM970 and apart from the 10 main prizes, the best under-10, under-12, under-15 and under-18 boys and girls will receive prizes too. Entry fees are RM12 for under-12 players and RM15 for others.

For enquiries and entry forms, contact Steven Ng (05-3668198), WK Wong (05-3661692) or Yunus Sharif (05-5458453). Closing date for both events is Apr 6.