Long-running tourney

Earlier this month, I made an unplanned private day trip to Kuala Lumpur. One aspect of most of my unplanned trips is that one way or another, I find myself visiting the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) at the Wilayah Complex along Jalan Dang Wangi. 

The place is such a magnet for me. It’s so conveniently located in KL that just about any chess player can visit it with ease. I was mildly surprised when I got there. The place had been expanded. Now occupying about twice the original floor space, the chess centre is now big enough to cater comfortably for any tournament with up to about 120 players.

As just my luck would have it too, the Selangor open chess tournament was going on that day when I visited the chess centre.

Good timing, I noted to myself, here was a perfect opportunity to see how the country’s longest-running chess tournament was being organized. Events may come and events may go but this one seems to go on forever. This tournament has been running non-stop without any interruption since 1974, the same year that the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) was formed.

That’s an unbroken stretch of 37 years. It’s a local achievement and I think this is mentioned in the Malaysian Book Of Records too. I remember having played in the first two editions of the tournament way back in 1974 at the Royal Selangor Club and in 1975 at a school in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya. That school would be used by the CAS for several more years.

But that was a very long time ago. Today, the organizers are using the DATCC in Kuala Lumpur. I gathered from the playing list that there were 71 participants at this year’s event. 

This was a reasonably big enough number for an event of this stature but I kept feeling that the organizers would have wanted to see more people taking part in their premier chess event. They didn’t have to tell me so but I have known them for so long that I knew that they would gladly accept better numbers.

Another thing that struck me about this tournament was that for the second year running, the Selangor open has been organized without any sponsorship deal. The prize moneys and the money for our expenses are being met mainly from the entry fees and partly from the association’s internal funds, I was told. 

Well, it is a shame that the country’s longest-running chess event hasn’t been able to obtain any sponsor again. The association’s long-term sponsor cried out last year, citing economic problem as the reason. But the tournament still had to go on, and the CAS decided on using its internal funds to carry on.

This year, the sponsor must have pulled out again and left the association carrying their baby for yet another year.

In my opinion, this can’t be continuing. It was quite understandable if the sponsor had been forced to pull out last year. After all, the global problems triggered by the sub-prime crisis in the United States last year had left many companies faced with economic difficulties. 

But if the same sponsor had pulled out again for a second year, my instinct would be to suggest to the CAS – or any other chess association for that matter – that they should come up with a Plan B and search for alternative sources of sponsorship. They shouldn’t allow this situation to spill into the third year.

Chess associations in Malaysia operate almost exclusively on sponsorship funds. Everybody works purely on a voluntary basis for the good of the game. As much as chess players owe it to the chess associations to uplift the level of chess in the community, chess associations also owe it to the chess players for the support. It’s the only survival technique the associations need or otherwise they become irrelevant.

Dependency on one another makes it a symbiotic relationship. One cannot do without the other. But the only way for chess players to support their associations is for the associations to organize quality events for players. No matter how hard a voluntary organization may work, it becomes impossible for it to continue working hard for long without external sponsorship funds coming in.

So definitely, a Plan B is in order for the CAS to move forward. I hope they are already doing this because I shall really be sad if Malaysia’s longest-running tournament gets affected again next year and in the years to come.

Oh, by the way, just for the record, Dr Nicholas Chan bounced back from his disappointing display at the Kuala Lumpur Masters event to bag the first prize at the Selangor open tournament. A convincing performance here which saw Chan finish half-a-point ahead of Jimmy Liew and Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin who ended in joint second place.

However, the most impressive result was scored by 11-year-old Yeoh Li Tian who finished in joint fourth place with Loo Swee Leong, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli and Tan Ken Wei.

Up next  

Chess workshops

With the school holidays just around the corner, Polgar Chess Asia is organizing several holiday chess workshops at Desa Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur. Complete beginners with very little idea about playing chess can attend the beginners-level workshops on Jun 7-10 or Jun 14-15. Fees are RM280 per student.

For slightly more advanced players, there are workshops on learning strategies of attack and endgame fundamentals. The “strategies of attack” workshop is on Jun 7-8 while the “endgame fundamentals” workshop is on Jun 9-10. Fees are RM300 per student.

For more information, contact Louisa Yip of Polgar Chess Asia (03.23001680 or 019.2586355).

MBS chess

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur will hold the 5th MBSSKL chess open tournament at the school premises on July 24. There will be three categories of events: under-20, under-17 and under-14 for boys and girls. Entry fees are RM5 for MBS students and RM15 for non-MBS students. More details are available from Mr NK Chin or Mdm LY Yong at the school (03.20782293).

 

Fighting draws

One feature that anyone following the recent world chess championship match in Sofia, Bulgaria between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov could not fail to notice was the absence of short draws.

Yes, the two players did agree to draw seven of the 12 games but all of them were great fighting draws. The games were hard fought all the way and the players had to prove to one another that they’d only agree to split a point when there was no more possibility of squeezing a win from the position.

Great fighting chess. That was what we all wanted to see when those two players came together. Of course, we know that Topalov’s uncompromising style would guarantee excitement in every game. He wouldn’t take a draw if he could help it. It was just not his style. It was aggression all the way. Streetwise aggression.

However, Anand refused to let all that aggro affect him too much, if at all. He had such a universal style that he could absorb everything that his opponent threw at him and then he would throw everything back at the opponent.

The end result? Twelve games that made us worldwide spectators sit up enthralled from the first to the last move. Though I was only observing the games through the Internet, the feeling and excitement was exactly the same as the time I was watching Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman play onstage in Kuala Lumpur 20 years ago. You’d think you were watching only two persons on a huge but near empty stage but no, there was also all the tension that went with the game.

Same here, online. We marvelled at the resourcefulness of the players. We applauded when we saw the players go for each other’s throat and we groaned when we noticed their mistakes. They are undeniably humans first, prone to making mistakes and other inaccuracies, and only chess gods second. 

Of course, it helped that when we watched through the Internet, there’d be some chess grandmasters or international masters around to give their real-time opinions about the games. It helped create a better understanding of the games for all the spectators. The downside, of course, was having to put up with the incomprehensible comments of the kibitzers in the Internet chat room at the same time. That was the only compromise but if you can ignore them, the three or four hours that you spend online can be very beneficial to any learner of chess.

A lot of the fighting games in Sofia could be put down to a little-known chess rule that has become very popular lately at top-level chess events, but never employed before at the world chess championship level. It’s known as the Sofia Rule, not because it was used in this match but because it’s generally accepted that the it was first used in a top-level chess competition in the Bulgarian capital in 2005.

The Sofia Rule dictates that players could not draw their games by agreement. They could have technical draws through stalemate or threefold repetition of position or the 50-move rule or through insufficient material, but that was all. Other draws would only be allowed if the arbiter declared it as a drawn position.

The FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009 series of tournaments did not even allow players to offer a draw directly. The draw had to be claimed with the arbiter, who was assisted by an experienced grandmaster. 

At this world chess championship match, Topalov tried to impose the Sofia Rule on Anand during the pre-match negotiations. He would not talk to Anand over the board, he declared. He would also ignore any attempt by Anand to offer a draw by talking to him during a game. If there was any draw offer, he would make it through the arbiter.

This request was rejected by Anand because according to him, world championship chess should be played with world championship regulations, and the Sofia Rule had never been accepted in any world championship regulation before.

Of course, there could always be a first time but how could there be a first time when both players cannot agree to using the rule? Nevertheless despite Anand’s rejection of the rule, Topalov’s team insisted that they would use it unilaterally and effectively force Anand to recognize it.

I think Anand’s response to this Sofia Rule was masterful. It was okay with him if Topalov refused to offer draws or accept draws. Anand was prepared to fight it out with Topalov in each and every game, no matter how long they played, but even without talking to his opponent, Anand could still tacitly offer to repeat positions on the chessboard. He was confident that if Topalov refused to accept such offers, it would make him continue the game and maybe, the pressure of trying to find the best alternative plans may force him into errors.

We all saw that happen in the 12th game. At one stage, the two players could have played their queen and bishop up and down the board and repeat the position three times but Topalov baulked at that. Drawing that game would mean extending the match into the tie-break which Topalov didn’t want, so he tried something else and he allowed Anand to break open the centre and train his guns on him.

The rest, as they say, is history. Anand carried out an irresistible attack and Topalov had to recapitulate at the end. Final result: 6½ points to world champion Anand and 5½ points to vanquished challenger Topalov.

Here are three more games from the match:

Veselin Topalov – Viswanathan Anand, Game 6

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. Ne5 c5 7. Na3 cxd4 8. Naxc4 Bc5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nd3 Ba7 13. Qa4 Nc6 14. Rac1 e5 15. Bxc6 b5 16. Qc2 Qxc6 17. Ncxe5 Qe4 18. Qc6 Bb7 19. Qxe4 Bxe4 20. Rc2 Rfe8 21. Rfc1 f6 22. Nd7 Bf5 23. N7c5 Bb6 24. Nb7 Bd7 25. Nf4 Rab8 26. Nd6 Re5 27. Nc8 Ba5 28. Nd3 Re8 29. Na7 Bb6 30. Nc6 Rb7 31. Ncb4 a5 32. Nd5 a4 33. Nxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 Bf5 35. Rd2 Rc6 36. b4 axb3 37. axb3 b4 38. Rxd4 Rxe2 39. Rxb4 Bh3 40. Rbc4 Rd6 41. Re4 Rb2 42. Ree1 Rdd2 43. Ne4 Rd4 44. Nc5 Rdd2 45. Ne4 Rd3 46. Rb1 Rdxb3 47. Nd2 Rb4 48. f3 g5 49. Rxb2 Rxb2 50. Rd1 Kf7 51. Kf2 h5 52. Ke3 Rc2 53. Ra1 Kg6 54. Ra6 Bf5 55. Rd6 Rc3+ 56. Kf2 Rc2 57. Ke3 Rc3+ 58. Kf2 Rc2 ½-½ 

Viswanathan Anand – Veselin Topalov, Game 7

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 dxc4 9. Ne5 b5 10. Nxc6 Nxc6 11. Bxc6 Bd7 12. Bxa8 Qxa8 13. f3 Nd5 14. Bd2 e5 15. e4 Bh3 16. exd5 Bxf1 17. Qxf1 exd4 18. a4 Qxd5 19. axb5 Qxb5 20. Rxa7 Re8 21. Kh1 Bf8 22. Rc7 d3 23. Bc3 Bd6 24. Ra7 h6 25. Nd2 Bb4 26. Ra1 Bxc3 27. bxc3 Re2 28. Rd1 Qa4 29. Ne4 Qc2 30. Rc1 Rxh2+ 31. Kg1 Rg2+ 32. Qxg2 Qxc1+ 33. Qf1 Qe3+ 34. Qf2 Qc1+ 35. Qf1 Qe3+ 36. Kg2 f5 37. Nf2 Kh7 38. Qb1 Qe6 39. Qb5 g5 40. g4 fxg4 41. fxg4 Kg6 42. Qb7 d2 43. Qb1+ Kg7 44. Kf1 Qe7 45. Kg2 Qe6 46. Qd1 Qe3 47. Qf3 Qe6 48. Qb7+ Kg6 49. Qb1+ Kg7 50. Qd1 Qe3 51. Qc2 Qe2 52. Qa4 Kg8 53. Qd7 Kf8 54. Qd5 Kg7 55. Kg3 Qe3+ 56. Qf3 Qe5+ 57. Kg2 Qe6 58. Qd1 ½-½

Veselin Topalov – Viswanathan Anand, Game 8

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 c5 8. e4 Bg6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Bxd4 Nfd7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bxc4 Rc8 14. Bb5 a6 15. Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. Ke2 f6 17. Rhd1 Ke8 18. a5 Be7 19. Bb6 Rf8 20. Rac1 f5 21. e5 Bg5 22. Be3 f4 23. Ne4 Rxc1 24. Nd6+ Kd7 25. Bxc1 Kc6 26. Bd2 Be7 27. Rc1+ Kd7 28. Bc3 Bxd6 29. Rd1 Bf5 30. h4 g6 31. Rxd6+ Kc8 32. Bd2 Rd8 33. Bxf4 Rxd6 34. exd6 Kd7 35. Ke3 Bc2 36. Kd4 Ke8 37. Ke5 Kf7 38. Be3 Ba4 39. Kf4 Bb5 40. Bc5 Kf6 41. Bd4+ Kf7 42. Kg5 Bc6 43. Kh6 Kg8 44. h5 Be8 45. Kg5 Kf7 46. Kh6 Kg8 47. Bc5 gxh5 48. Kg5 Kg7 49. Bd4+ Kf7 50. Be5 h4 51. Kxh4 Kg6 52. Kg4 Bb5 53. Kf4 Kf7 54. Kg5 Bc6 55. Kh6 Kg8 56. g4 1-0

Up next  

Perak grand prix

The Manjung leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, postponed from last week due to the unavailability of the venue, is now confirmed as scheduled for this Sunday at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Methodist (ACS) in Sitiawan. 

Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129) or Hamisah (012.5008723). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

Chess workshops

With the school holidays just around the corner, Polgar Chess Asia is organizing several holiday chess workshops at Desa Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur. Complete beginners with very little idea about playing chess can attend the beginners-level workshops on Jun 7-10 or Jun 14-15. Fees are RM280 per student.

For slightly more advanced players, there are workshops on learning strategies of attack and endgame fundamentals. The “strategies of attack” workshop is on Jun 7-8 while the “endgame fundamentals” workshop is on Jun 9-10. Fees are RM300 per student.

For more information, contact Louisa Yip of Polgar Chess Asia (03.23001680 or 019.2586355).

MBS chess

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur will hold the 5th MBSSKL chess open tournament at the school premises on July 24. There will be three categories of events: under-20, under-17 and under-14 for boys and girls. Entry fees are RM5 for MBS students and RM15 for non-MBS students. More details are available from Mr NK Chin or Mdm LY Yong at the school (03.20782293)

 

Still champ

Finally, the world chess championship match in Sofia, Bulgaria is over. India’s Viswanathan Anand is still the world champion and Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov is left regretting what could have been.

What a match. Right from the very first move in the first game until the very last move in the 12th game, the match had bedazzled me all the way. Topalov, as I had mentioned so many times in the past, showed an uncompromising fighting spirit and took the game to Anand but Anand proved to be a more capable and complete player than Topalov. 

When the Bulgarian challenger won the eighth game to level the match at four-all, I had never thought that this match would not go the full distance. For sure, it would then be decided by the tie-break games. 

The next two games – the ninth and the 10th – were drawn. In the 11th game, it was Anand’s last chance to win with the white pieces but a very confident Topalov held out comfortably to force a draw.

The 12th game would then become the most critical. Topalov would have the white pieces in this final game and hence, the initiative of playing the first move. Would he make something out of this initiative? Would he be able to press Anand into submission?

In this game of death, a win would secure either player the title of world champion; a draw would lead to the tie-break games. However, it was not to be. After a great deal of manoeuvring by both players, Anand took a bold step to pry open the centre with a pawn push.

Topalov was reckless enough to go along with the plan. He captured the pawn and suddenly, Anand’s attack appeared from nowhere. Checkmate was expected but at a critical stage, Anand did not play the best move and Topalov almost came back to hold the game. 

But the tension finally took its toll on the Bulgarian. After a series of exchanges, it was clear that his remaining pieces (a rook and a knight) were very uncoordinated on the chess board and Anand’s sole queen had no problem to wrap up the game.

The final score of the match was 6½-5½. Anand had won the second, fourth and 12th games while Topalov took the first and eighth games. The rest of the games were drawn.

Here is the final game of the match:

Viswanathan Anand-Veselin Topalov, Game 12

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 c6 10.Be2 Nxc3 11.Rxc3 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nd7 13.0-0 b6 14.Bd3 c5 15.Be4 Rb8 16.Qc2 Nf6 17.dxc5 Nxe4 18.Qxe4 bxc5 19.Qc2N Bb7 20.Nd2 Rfd8 21.f3 Ba6 22.Rf2 Rd7 23.g3 Rbd8 24.Kg2 Bd3 25.Qc1 Ba6 26.Ra3 Bb7 27.Nb3 Rc7 28.Na5 Ba8 29.Nc4 e5 30.e4 f5 31.exf5 e4 32.fxe4 (It was at this point that Topalov lost his nerve) 32...Qxe4+ 33.Kh3 Rd4 34.Ne3 Qe8 35.g4 h5 36.Kh4 g5+ 37.fxg6 Qxg6 38.Qf1 Rxg4+ 39.Kh3 Re7 40.Rf8+ Kg7 41.Nf5+ Kh7 42.Rg3 Rxg3+ 43.hxg3 Qg4+ 44.Kh2 Re2+ 45.Kg1 Rg2+ 46.Qxg2 Bxg2 47.Kxg2 Qe2+ 48.Kh3 c4 49.a4 a5 50.Rf6 Kg8 51.Nh6+ Kg7 52.Rb6 Qe4 53.Kh2 Kh7 4.Rd6 Qe5 55.Nf7 Qxb2+ 56.Kh3 Qg7 0-1

And here are some of the earlier games of this match.

Veselin Topalov-Viswanathan Anand, Game 3

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 c5 8. e4 Bg6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Bxd4 Nfd7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bxc4 a6 14. Rc1 Rg8 15. h4 h6 16. Ke2 Bd6 17. h5 Bh7 18. a5 Ke7 19. Na4 f6 20. b4 Rgc8 21. Bc5 Bxc5 22. bxc5 Rc7 23. Nb6 Rd8 24. Nxd7 Rdxd7 25. Bd3 Bg8 26. c6 Rd6 27. cxb7 Rxb7 28. Rc3 Bf7 29. Ke3 Be8 30. g4 e5 31. Rhc1 Bd7 32. Rc5 Bb5 33. Bxb5 axb5 34. Rb1 b4 35. Rb3 Ra6 36. Kd3 Rba7 37. Rxb4 Rxa5 38. Rxa5 Rxa5 39. Rb7+ Kf8 40. Ke2 Ra2+ 41. Ke3 Ra3+ 42. Kf2 Ra2+ 43. Ke3 Ra3+ 44. Kf2 Ra2+ 45. Ke3 Ra3+ 46. Kf2 ½-½ 

Viswanathan Anand-Veselin Topalov, Game 4

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 c6 9. a4 b5 10. Na3 Bd7 11. Ne5 Nd5 12. e4 Nb4 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfd1 Be8 15. d5 Qd6 16. Ng4 Qc5 17. Ne3 N8a6 18. dxc6 bxa4 19. Naxc4 Bxc6 20. Rac1 h6 21. Nd6 Qa7 22. Ng4 Rad8 23. Nxh6+ gxh6 24. Qxh6 f6 25. e5 Bxg2 26. exf6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 Be4 28. Rxe6 Nd3 29. Rc2 Qh7 30. f7+ Qxf7 31. Rxe4 Qf5 32. Re7 1-0

Veselin Topalov-Viswanathan Anand, Game 5

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 c5 8. e4 Bg6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Bxd4 Nfd7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bxc4 a6 14. Rc1 Rg8 15. h4 h5 16. Ne2 Bd6 17. Be3 Ne5 18. Nf4 Rc8 19. Bb3 Rxc1+ 20. Bxc1 Ke7 21. Ke2 Rc8 22. Bd2 f6 23. Nxg6+ Nxg6 24. g3 Ne5 25. f4 Nc6 26. Bc3 Bb4 27. Bxb4+ Nxb4 28. Rd1 Nc6 29. Rd2 g5 30. Kf2 g4 31. Rc2 Rd8 32. Ke3 Rd6 33. Rc5 Nb4 34. Rc7+ Kd8 35. Rc3 Ke7 36. e5 Rd7 37. exf6+ Kxf6 38. Ke2 Nc6 39. Ke1 Nd4 40. Bd1 a5 41. Rc5 Nf5 42. Rc3 Nd4 43. Rc5 Nf5 44. Rc3 ½-½

Up next  

De Laguna Park open

The Cerdik Catur Enterprise and Restoran Selera Nelayan are jointly organizing the Stonemaster De Laguna Park open tournament at the Laguna Park Pulau Indah in Port Klang tomorrow.

Entry fees are RM15 for players below 18 years old and RM25 for others. To register, contact Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370, seme_event@yahoo.com). Places are available to the first 150 players only. More information available from http://www.stonemaster.info or http://cerdikcatur.blogspot.com 

KL rapid grand prix 

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the fourth leg of the KL rapid grand prix tomorrow and on Sunday. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Perak grand prix

The Manjung leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, will be played at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Methodist (ACS) in Sitiawan this Sunday. 

Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129) or Hamisah (012.5008723). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

PCA AGM

The Penang Chess Association will hold its annual general meeting at the Residents’ Association of Bayan Baru in Jalan Nibong, Bandar Bayan Baru, Penang this Sunday at 11am. Preceding the meeting will be a blitz tournament starting at 9.30am.

CAS closed and AGM

The Chess Association of Selangor will hold the CAS closed tournament in the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on May 23 afternoon. Only members of the association can take part and therefore, you’ll need to join as a member before you can play. The entry fee is RM20 per player if registered before May 20 and RM30 per player after this date. For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922) or Mat Zaki (017.2032051). 

Meanwhile, the 33rd annual general meeting of the CAS will be held on May 23 at 11am. The venue of the meeting will also be the Wilayah Complex.

 

Passing of a legend

Florencio Campomanes touched different people in different ways. 

Among the Western nations, Campomanes was despised as a dictator who overstayed his tenure as the president of the World Chess Federation (Fide) and who played a very instrumental role in dividing the chess world.

Among the Third World countries however, Campomanes was seen mostly as a champion who succeeded to the world body’s highest position and who opened up chess to the world and brought the game to its greatest prominence.

Who was right and who was wrong? Without a doubt, both sides would have their grounds and justifications to cast Campomanes as their hero or villain. Personally, I don’t believe that he cared very much for the labels. Ultimately, he wanted only results, not how the job got done. But all that is now behind him.

Last Monday, Florencio Campomanes, more popularly known as Campo to his friends and enemies, died in his native Philippines. He was 83 years old.

I first got to know of Campo way back in 1974 when he was still only a deputy president of the World Chess Federation. Asia was his main playground then, and chess was just taking off in the continent. 

He came to Penang for the inaugural Asian team championship and at its conclusion, he received the challenge trophy from our second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. Campo was truly the public face of the Philippines’ chess team.

In 1978, he organized the acrimonious world chess championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio City and in 1982, achieved his ambition to become the Fide president. His election to the world body’s top position, on the promise of elevating chess to greater heights, created a buzz everywhere. I was there in Luzerne when it happened and the euphoria was simply incredible.

As the Fide president, he sowed the seeds that would eventually see Fide being accepted into the fold of the international Olympic movement. This wasn’t a short-term process; it actually took years before the walls could be broken down.

But his Fide presidency was also marred with controversy. By 1984, Garry Kasparov’s star was already in its ascendancy and he was knocking on Karpov’s door. But the 1984/85 world championship match was organized with rules different from today’s. It was a match where a player needed to score six decisive victories, draws not counting. 

Karpov was unable to deliver the final win and he enabled Kasparov to extend the match to 48 games. After five long months of play, Campo decided to abandon the match, citing players’ fatigue as the decision. There would be a rematch later in the year, limited to 24 games.

While this might have been seen as a logical decision – a tough decision actually – that any Fide president would have to make, it did not go down well at all with many chess federations in the West. They claimed that Campo’s decision was scandalous and unilaterally made to favour the tiring Karpov at a time when an invigorated Kasparov was starting to get stronger at the chessboard. They said there was no precedent to stop the match but precisely, it was Campo’s job to set a precedent if one was really required. 

Anyhow, Campomanes weathered all the criticisms and went on to achieve his second high point as the Fide president by bringing the biennial Chess Olympiad to Manila in 1992. It was again a first for Asian chess as never before had any Third World country organized such a large-scale team chess event in this part of the world.

But chess was never the same after that. During Campo’s tenure as Fide president, Kasparov declared that his world championship title never belonged to the World Chess Federation and he could choose to defend his title any time he liked or wanted. Not surprisingly, Kasparov had the support of the western chess federations and most of the top western chess grandmasters.

So chess went in two separate directions. Kasparov had his own version of a world chess championship running for several years while Fide continued with its own regular world chess title series. It was not until 2006 that there was unification again.

The pressure on Campo began to tell and in 1995, he stepped down as the Fide president and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took over. Nevertheless, Campo remained active in the chess world and he was made the Fide honorary president which allowed him to roam the globe as the ultimate chess ambassador.

He never slowed down, not even a horrendous car crash in Turkey in 2007 was able to stop him. Though seriously warded in a hospital with his neck in braces, he received all guests and insisted on playing chess with them on his hospital bed. That was his dedication to the game.

Campo turned up often in Malaysia because he was a fast friend of Datuk Tan Chin Nam whom he first met in 1974. It was mainly Campomanes that persuaded Tan to stand for Fide election in 1982. Every time that Campo came into town, he would come as a guest of Tan. 

I can’t remember the last time I met him in Kuala Lumpur. It must have been at the early part of this decade. He was already frail of body but still sharp in mind. Impressively, he still carried with him a very distinguished and statesman-like air. Without any prompting, he could always remember my name but never once could he say it properly. But like him, I did not care. I did not care very much for the mispronunciations because I knew that he only wanted to be polite and address me, not how to call my name.

Tan told me, “I have lost an old friend and a dear friend. My heart goes out to his family. There will never be another Campomanes.” 

Casto Abundo, one-time Fide general secretary, recalled that Campo continued to be active in FIDE, Asian and Philippine chess until his bout with cancer reached the terminal stage last year. “He was still strong and hearty on his 83rd birthday last Feb 22 but his health quickly deteriorated. I was at his bedside at the Notre Dame Hospital in Baguio City on May 1. As I thanked him for all our chess years together, he smiled and said "We had fun."”

Naturally, Campomane’s death on Monday overshadows the current world chess championship match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Veselin Topalov. The match still has four days to go, provided it goes the whole distance, and if it ends equal at 6-all after 12 games, tie-break games on May 13 will decide the winner.

However, as at the end of the seventh game earlier this week, Anand is leading Topalov by 4-3. After the turbulence of the first two games, both the players have settled down well into the match.

The third game was drawn and Anand won the fourth game. After that, the next three games were all great fighting draws.

Up next  

KL rapid grand prix 

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the fourth leg of the KL rapid grand prix tomorrow and on Sunday. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Perak grand prix

The Manjung leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, will be played at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Methodist (ACS) in Sitiawan on May 16. 

Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Entries will close on May 13. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129) or Hamisah (012.5008723). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com