THANK YOU for your article dated Jan 16 in The Star. I write to you to put the record straight and to give credit where it is due.
You have stated that it was Mr Henry Chai of Sarawak that had convinced the MSSM to bring chess back to the fold this year. I wish to inform you that Mr Henry Chai was the senior assistant director in charge of the sport section for the Sarawak Education Department from June to December 2003. And it had been agreed upon in principle by MSSM earlier that chess would be rescheduled in the MSSM Calendar in 2004.
At that time, Mr Liong Chou Chuan was the senior assistant director in charge for this matter. It was he who had managed to convince his counterparts on the importance of chess in developing thinking skills in the students. The inclusion of chess in the Vietnam SEA Games had also helped our cause.
As one of those involved in inter-school chess competition in Sarawak, I have followed the chess competition closely. Initially, the MSSM chess tournament was struck out of their calendar based on the fact that chess was not a sports event. The economic crisis had been used as a basis for the removal of the event.
But on our side, we had written in an appeal based on the fact that many countries have adopted the chess game as a curricular activity to enhance students’ thinking abilities. Studies have proven that students involved in chess programmes showed an increase of as much as 20% and 15% in Mathematics and language scores respectively. Besides, those students are found to be more disciplined and self-controlled.
Please search for ‘scholastic chess’ for further details on the research done.
Therefore, I believe that chess is an excellent tool to train our students to think creatively. I would sincerely hope that the Malaysian Chess Federation would help in promoting chess playing in schools in the future.
While I agree with you that qualified persons be trained and appointed to run the MSSM chess competition, I disagree with the rapidchess style of competition as you have suggested. No doubt it is more entertaining and suitable for the quickie style of play preferred by youngsters, but it could impede the impact of the chess game upon the students – cultivating thinking skill, discipline and so on. Maybe reducing the time frame is acceptable, but please do not turn school-level chess tournaments into spectator sports.
Thank you for your fortnightly contribution. I appreciate that.
Wong Tok Hua, Sarawak
Mr Wong, thank you for your clarification. Your letter is one of the “missing links” which helps to complete the whole picture of how chess was removed from the MSSM calendar in 1998 and only now, due for reinstatement this year.
When I was in Vietnam last year for the SEA Games, I saw for myself how chess can be a great spectator sport. In the final of the rapidchess events, especially during the play-off sessions, the thrill of the kill on the chessboard kept the audience very much on edge.
All the high drama told not only on the players’ faces but the audience as well. It was tension felt by everyone as the players strained to squeeze a win from their games. We could see that rapidchess is THE future for chess; that this is the direction that chess must take to popularise itself to a wider audience locally.
Even at international level, the World Chess Federation has already seen it fit to move away from the longer time controls to the shorter Shirov time control of one hour 30 minutes with a 30-second increment per move.
But having said this, I do agree with you that the MSSM chess should not be turned into a full-fledged rapidchess event.
We certainly need a time control that is longer than 30-minute games so that we can give enough time to the players to think reasonably well through their games. The objective should still be to train the players to think critically and creatively, and not turn the games into a clock-bashing lottery.
I would believe that the one-hour time control is reasonably long enough for games at the MSSM level. However, the greater concern to me is not the time control but the pressure put on the players to play too many games in too few days. Chess competitions should not be turned into extreme tests of endurance.
GAME OF THE WEEK
This game from the fifth round of the men’s Standard chess competition at the SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City last month was an interesting struggle. Villamayor emerged from the opening with a greater spatial advantage but he was unable to capitalise on it. A few ill-considered moves soon allowed Mas Hafizul to slowly turn the table on his opponent.
On the 52nd move, Villamayor thought that he had a chance to claim for a draw through a three-fold repetition of position. The arbiters were called in to settle the claim but after some deliberation, the claim was rightly rejected. In the play that followed, Mas Hafizul closed down the position to prevent further spurious claims and then converted the game into a patient win.
White: Mas Hafizulhelmi (2397) - Black: Buenaventura Villamayor (2477)
1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.0–0 e6 7.d3 Bd6 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 0–0 10.Nd2 a5 11.a3 Qe7 12.Bg2 e5 13.c4 Rfe8 14.Re1 Rad8 15.e3 Nc5 16.Qc2 e4 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.dxe4 dxe4 19.Reb1 Be5 20.Ra2 f5 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Nd3 23.c5 Ra8 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.g4 Qh4 26.Nc4 Bc7 27.gxf5 Kh8 28.Kf1 Rg8 29.Nb2 Qg5 30.Bxe4 Ne5 31.Nc4 Qh5 32.Nxe5 Qxh3+ 33.Ke2 Bxe5 34.Bf3 Rg5 35.Rd1 Rxf5 36.Qe4 Rg5 37.Rh1 Qf5 38.Qxf5 Rxf5 39.Be4 Rf6 40.Bxh7 Kg7 41.Be4 Re6 42.Rb1 Kf8 43.Kd3 Ke8 44.b5 Kd8 45.f4 Bf6 46.Bf5 Re7 47.bxc6 bxc6 48.Rb8+ Kc7 49.Rb6 Bh4 50.Ra6 Kb7 51.Rb6+ Kc7 52.Ra6 Kb7 53.Ra2 Re8 54.Ra4 Rh8 55.Kc4 Kc7 56.Ra2 Kb7 57.Rb2+ Kc7 58.Rg2 Kb7 59.Rb2+ Kc7 60.Be4 Re8 61.Kd3 Rd8+ 62.Ke2 Re8 63.Kf3 Re6 64.Bf5 Re8 65.Rh2 Be7 66.Rh7 Bxc5 67.Rxf7+ Re7 68.Rxe7+ Bxe7 69.e4 Kd6 70.e5+ Kd5 71.Be4+ Kd4 72.Bxc6 Bb4 73.Kg4 Ba5 74.Kf5 Bc7 1–0
UP NEXT
CAS junior grand prix events
The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold the first leg of this year’s ninth Royal Selangor 1600 junior grand prix chess tournament at the Sunway College on Feb 8-9.
This tournament is one of four junior events that CAS will organise in the next two months for players born in 1986 or later, and with a Selangor rating of 1600 points or lower. Players without rating points are also eligible to take part.
The other legs will be played on Feb 21-22, Mar 6-7 and Mar 20-21. Players will earn GP points from these legs and the top 40 players with the highest accumulated GP points will qualify for the grand prix final in April.
Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. Entries and enquiries should be forwarded to chessmate@cas.com.kg. For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (012-298-4922).
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