THE BIGGEST responsibility that can be given to any of our national players when taking part in an international team chess competition such as the Chess Olympiad is the honour of playing on the first board for the team.
In Calvia, Spain, this honour fell on Mok Tze Meng and Siti Zulaikha. They will be the first to tell you that this is a heavy responsibility. Not only are they going to meet the strongest opposition, they have the enviable task of trying to hold their own against them.
It is not easy to face grandmasters or international masters across the board when you know that the odds are stacked against you, that these titled players are just waiting for the slightest mistakes from you before they pounce.
But I am glad to mention here that both Mok and Siti played exemplarily well in the Chess Olympiad and they should be proud of their achievements.
Siti had an impressive start to the tournament with five points from her first nine games but unfortunately, her performance in subsequent rounds were more difficult and she could only collect a further 1½ points from her next five games. Nevertheless, she came back with a woman international master (WIM) norm. She is not a WIM yet, but this norm is definitely her first step towards getting the title.
As an indication of the tough opposition that she faced, Siti’s opponents included IM Lilit Mkrtchian (Armenia), WGM Eva Repkova (Slovakia), WIM Cecile van der Merwe (South Africa), WIM Vlasta Macek (Croatia), WIM Sarai Sanchez Castillo (Venezuela), WIM Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia), WIM Niina Sammalvuo (Finland), WIM Olga Sabirova (Uzbekistan) and WIM Knarik Mouradian (Libya).
Mok’s opponents were equally daunting. Already in the first round, he was facing veteran GM Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) and in the second round, it was IM Oscar de la Riva Aguado (Andorra). His other titled opponents included IM Kivanc Haznedaroglu (Turkey), IM Danilo Canda (Nicaragua), GM Evgeni Ermenkov (Palestine), IM Bernardo Roselli Mailhe (Uruguay) and IM Kevin Denny (Barbados).
But it was a pity that despite his good efforts in Calvia, Mok still missed out on his IM norm. Nevertheless, his 8½ points from 14 games was still a massive contribution which saw the men’s team finish with 28 points in 70th position, 24 places ahead of their pre-tournament seeding.
Lim Yee Weng on second board, scored seven points which included a draw with GM Joseph Gallagher (Switzerland). Leong Mun Wan obtained six points, Hafiz Shafruddin contributed 3½ points and Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli collected three points.
Our women’s team finished in 40th position, which was not only 16 places better than their pre-tournament seeding but possibly the best result ever achieved by our women’s team at the Chess Olympiad. Apart from Siti’s 6½ points, Nur Shazwani Zullkafli scored 7½ points, Roslina Marmono achieved three points and Wan Khye Theng 4½ points.
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Busy calendar ahead
With the school holidays now upon us, the chess associations around the country are beginning to be active again and over the next three weeks or so, there are tournaments lined up in Penang, Perak, Johor and Sarawak. Happy playing!
Johor Bahru open
Entries close today for the Johor Bahru District Chess Association’s 10th Johor Bahru open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru this Sunday. Entry fees are RM30 for the open category, RM8 for the under-16 category and RM6 for the under-12 category. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (07-333 8215, naraa@tm.net.my).
Union age-group
There will be an age-group chess tournament for under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 players at the Union Primary School in Jalan Burma, Penang this Sunday. Entry fees for Penang Chess Association (PCA) members are RM10 for players under 16 years old and RM8 for those who are below 10 years old. Non-PCA members are required to pay an additional RM2. Fees paid after today will be subjected to a surcharge of RM5. To register, contact Loo Swee Leong (016-423 1168, leoloo168@yahoo.com) or Lim Poay Sim (012-490 1822, pslim159@hotmail.com).
Sarawak open
The Sarawak Chess Association (SCA), Kelab Shell Lutong and the Miri Chess Association will jointly organise this year’s Sarawak chess open tournament at the Machinda Hall, Kelab Shell Lutong in Miri on Dec 3-5. This is a nine-round event with a one-hour time control. Entry fees are RM5 for ladies and under-18 players, and RM10 for all other participants. Entries close on Nov 25.
For more details, contact Lim Kian Hwa (013-8165163, lkhwa@tm.net.my) or James Brodie (082-616177 (office), 082-451973 (residence)) in Kuching, Mathew Lutu (019-8554705, mathew.lutu@shell.com), Bujang Poli (019-8147018, bujang.poli@shell.com) or Jim (ksl_ltg@streamyx.com) in Miri, Marzuki Hussain (019-8144369, marzuki_hussain@petronas.com.my) in Bintulu, Yii Hee Tiong (016-8916621) in Sibu or Wong Toh Hua (013-8040809) in Sarikei.
Perak tournaments
The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will hold two events in early December in association with the state’s Youth & Sports Department and Perak Gerakan Youth. The Perak closed chess tournament will be run on two consecutive days on Dec 4-5 while on Dec 5, the Anak Malaysia chess tournament will be organised.
Entry fees for the Perak closed are RM15 for PICA members and under-16 players, while non-members will be charged RM20. For the Anak Malaysia event, the fees are RM5 and RM10 respectively. Entries received after Nov 30 will be surcharged an additional RM5. For details or registration, contact Yunus (013-3908129) or Martin Abu Bakar (019-5121888).
PICA is also holding regular chess sessions every first and third Saturdays of the month at the YMCA Ipoh from 2pm to 4pm. For more information, contact PICA treasurer Chan Swee Loon (019-5563027).
PCA grand prix, 4th leg
The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will hold the fourth leg of their annual PCA Grand Prix at the clubhouse of the Residents’ Association of Bayan Baru (RABB) on Dec 5. Only the first 100 entries will be accepted.
Entry fees for PCA members are RM15 (adults), RM10 (under-18 players) and RM7 (under-13 players) while non-PCA members are required to pay RM20 (adults), RM15 (under-18) and RM10 (under-13). Fees must be paid by Nov 28 or otherwise, there is a surcharge of RM5 for registration on the day of the tournament. For more information, contact Marcus Yeoh (012-472 3873, marcusypl@yahoo.com) or Tan Eng Seong (012-429 9517, estan64@streamyx.com).
USM team open
The Universiti Sains Malaysia will organise their 11th USM team open tournament at the university grounds on Dec 11-12. Entry fees are RM60 for schools and institutes of higher learning, and RM100 for all other teams. Closing date for entries is Dec 4. For more details, contact Choo Chee Wai (012-6127712) or Tan Chooi Nee (012-4344339) or email the Kelab Bridge& Catur USM (usm_chess_club@yahoo.com). Members of the chess-malaysia mailing list can download the entry form from http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/chess-malaysia/files/.
